


Draco Malfoy and The Ripped Page

by magicmelly



Series: Draco Malfoy Book Rewrite [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:00:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26510281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicmelly/pseuds/magicmelly
Series: Draco Malfoy Book Rewrite [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927480
Kudos: 13





	1. Summer Secrets

As the sun shined over Wiltshire, and the kids down by the pub played their games of hopscotch and tag. Draco Malfoy was locked in his room reading from the book his mother gave him at the start of the summer. That being said, his summer had been questionable. His father had made him empty most of the rooms in the Manor, so when the ministry eventually did come to do an inspection of the house, everything relating to the Dark Lord would have been gone.

At first, Draco thought this was all he was doing. He had hoped his father wasn't completely mad that he had gotten beaten by a muggle-born his first year at school. Yet, like always Draco was wrong.

The second week back home, Lucius locked Draco in the portrait room after telling all the paintings that Draco had gotten the second-best scores behind Hermione Granger, the mudblood.

Draco had spent hours in that room, covering his ears over the constant insults and yelling of his ancestors.

"You are not worth the Malfoy name!"

"How dare you lose to someone as stupid as a mudblood!"

"Disgraceful!"

Lucius would eventually let him out, whenever he seemed fit of course. That only lasted a few weeks, until Draco was forced to promise he would do better the next year.

After that all ended, Draco had attempted to write to his friends. Blaise and Theo had written back saying that they were also cleaning their houses just in case the ministry decided to pay a visit to their families as well. Even Pansy wrote back, saying that her father was also extremely paranoid about the raids, but she was doing fine.

Crabbe and Goyle on the other hand seemed to be at the house more often. Their fathers needed to meet with Lucius a lot more for some reason, but Draco knew it could only mean they were planning something.

Draco didn't mind their company, and it allowed him to get a bit closer with the two dimwitted boys. He found out their favorite treats were cake and even told Dobby to make some whenever they came around. Usually, their visits would go something like this; Crabbe and Goyle would head down into the kitchen to eat the cake Dobby had made while Draco went and tried to listen in on the meetings between their fathers.

It was all going very well, Draco had picked up on a couple of things, the main one being the chamber of secrets. When everyone would leave the manor, Draco would sneak into the library and try to find books that talked about the chamber. He wanted to find out why it was so important to his father this time, and what his father was planning to do regarding it.

Draco spent nights, researching as well as trying to find out more about his father's plans. He had eventually concluded that whatever was being planned, was against Harry Potter.

He didn't care for Potter, Draco would even say he hated him. Yet something about this didn't feel right at all. So one night at the end of June, Draco called Dobby into his room to talk about something.

"Yes, you called Master Draco?" Dobby squeaked after he apartrated into Draco's room.

"Dobby, I need you to do something," Draco said as he stood looking out his window at the dark sky.

Draco had a plan, and if it worked then maybe it will end up benefiting both him and harry.

"Yes? Did Dobby forget to clean something, sir?" Dobby said as he began searching around the room for any sign of mess that may have been left behind.

"No, no," Draco began as he turned around to face the elf, "I want you to stop Harry Potter from coming to Hogwarts this year," He said as he watched the elf's face change into pure confusion.

"Harry Potter? Is that-" Dobby said before Draco cut him off by nodding. "Well, how must Dobby do that sir? And Why is Harry Potter so important to master Draco that Dobby must break rules to stop him from going to Hogwarts?" Dobby exclaimed and quickly ran over to Draco's bed and started bashing his head on the side.

"Dobby, stop it, you know I hate when you do that," Draco said as he picked Dobby up and placed him on the bed, which seemed to terrify the elf even more. "Let me just tell you a few things about Harry," He began as he took a seat next to Dobby and began to talk about the infamous Boy Who Lived.

Draco told Dobby everything he knew about Harry. How much he had saved the day, the friends he had, how good at quidditch he was, and more. Dobby seemed overjoyed and immediately agreed to do the task.

It was all going well, the school year was starting soon and Draco had been preparing by reading every book he could think of that would be relevant to his second year. The whole day nothing happened, Draco sat in the library in silence as he just listened to the distant call of the peacocks outside and the small summer breeze that seemed to pass through the house with ease.

Just before Draco was about to get up and grab another book he heard the fireplace in the main room erupt in flames and the footsteps of two people walk out. Confused, but not surprised they had guests, Draco walked out to see who it was.

Standing in the main room was Pansy and a man that he assumed to be her father. Draco tried to hide his smile, but it was nice to see his friend after so long. Pansy bit her smile back as well as her father seemed to glance around at the manor.

"So you must be Draco, where is your father?" The man spoke just as cold as his father. "Yes Mr. Parkinson," Draco responded, still keeping his distance. Draco noticed that Pansy's father was clutching onto what seemed to be a couple of worn down books.

Before Draco could ask anything else, Lucius walked downstairs and without speaking motioned for Mr.Parkinson to come upstairs into his study. As Draco heard their footsteps fade up the stairs and the door to the study close he walked up to Pansy who immediately hugged him.

Shocked, he hugged her back and smiled. "How have you been Pans," Draco asked as she seemed a bit off. "Oh I've been fine, just ready to go back to school that's all," Pansy said and she darted her eyes from the stairs to Draco's.

"You want to go see what they're talking about don't you?" Draco smirked as she nodded in agreement. The two cunning Slytherins sneaked their way up the stairs and towards Lucius's study. For whatever reason, the door was open this time.

"Lucius, you know what the Dark Lord said about that book, you need a way to get it into the castle," Mr. Parkinson grunted, as Pansy and Draco heard him pace around the study.

"Edward, I assure you everything is under control, the chamber of secrets will open once more. It has been 50 years since it last opened, so we shall hope the Dark Lord has planned ahead," Lucius said. Draco could tell by his father's tone of voice he was getting slightly annoyed.

"Fine, and what about the Potter boy?" Mr. Parkinson questioned once more.

"We shall see what happens, hopefully, Mr.Potter's luck has run out," Lucius mumbled and the room seemed to grow silent.

So it does have something to do with Harry...

Draco bit his lip and looked at Pansy who was extremely confused. "What's the chamber of secrets?" She whispered but before Draco could answer, they heard the footsteps of both of their fathers start to walk towards the door.

Quickly, Draco and Pansy made their way back downstairs and pretended to just be interested in one of the paintings besides the fireplace. A couple of seconds later Mr.Parkinson had made his way downstairs and grabbed Pansy and pulled her into the fireplace. "It was nice to meet you Draco," Mr.Parkinson said before yelling the words Parkinson Hall and disappearing in the green flames.

Draco went to his room after that, he needed to find out more about the chamber, but where? As he closed the door to his room, he heard the pop of Dobby apparating behind him.

"Master Draco! Harry Potter refuses to not go to Hogwarts! Harry Potter says Hogwarts is his home sir!" Dobby squealed while clutching onto what seemed to be a bundle of letters.

"What are those Dobby?" Draco asked, moving a bit closer to try his hands on them.

"Harry Potter's letter sir, Dobby has been taking them so Harry Potter would think his friends had forgotten about him," Dobby said, squealing.

"Let me see them," Draco asked, holding his hand for the elf. Dobby placed the bundle of letters into Draco's hand who quickly went through them.

Ron...Ron...Ron...Granger...

Draco grimaced at the name. He hated himself for thinking he could have been friends with a muggleborn like her, there was nothing special about her at all anyways. Draco ripped up her letter and returned Ron's letters to Dobby.

"You said he wants to come back to Hogwarts," Draco said, staring at the wall, thinking of something, anything.

"Yes Sir, I even dropped a pudding on one of the ladies of the house, Dobby feels horrible sir! If Master Lucius found out I-" Dobby cried as he began smacking his head once more on the bed.

"Dobby cut it out please," Draco said, rubbing his head. He needed to find out more about the chamber so that when something did happen, he was ready. There was only one place in the Manor he had not looked in for information, his father's study.

As it was now relatively late, Draco hoped his father was asleep as he snuck towards the study. Draco paid mind to the portraits and managed to sneak past all of them towards the door. A part of Draco expected a charm or protective enchantment on the door, but there was none. The door opened with ease, revealing the dark study of Lucius Malfoy.

Draco crept towards the desk in the center of the room and began searching. There were plenty of parchments containing bits of information about the chamber. Draco read through each and eventually stumbled upon a note about a...Basilisk?

Draco wasn't sure what a Basilisk was, and he hadn't read about it in any of the manor's books, but he remembered that he was meant to go to Diagon Alley in a few days. Surely one of the books at Flourish and Blotts would mention something about a Basilisk.

Draco kept reading and came across a parchment filled with spells. None of them seemed relatively interesting except for one, Serpensortia is a snake from the tip of the d. Draco quickly stuffed the spell in his pocket and stood up. He had found out everything he needed.

As he turned to walk out the door he stopped and he felt the color in his face vanish.

Standing in the doorway was Lucius who looked furious and had his hand gripped tightly on his cane.

"What do you think you are doing," Lucius sneered, still not moving from the doorway.

"I heard you talking about the Chamber of Secrets and I was curious," Draco said as clearly as he could but his voice still shook from the nerves.

Lucius walked into the room, not taking his eyes off Draco. "And you instead of asking me, went through my personal belongings?" Lucius said as the tone of his voice still shook Draco. He thought back to the one time Lucius had caught Draco playing with the muggle children, even then he didn't sound this mad.

"Yes, but only because I-" Draco started to say before Lucius grabbed him by his jumper and began to lead him out into the hallway. Scared, but unable to speak, Draco squirmed trying to release himself from his father's grip.

Before he could do anything he was flung into the portrait room where the screams of his ancestors began once more.

"How dare you!"

"Tarnishing the bloodline!"

"Idiot, Stupid Boy!!"

Draco felt tears run down his cheeks and he covered his ears. He laid on the floor huddled like a small ball and wept. He tried to flood his minds with thoughts such as books, his friends, the stars, quidditch, but every time his thoughts would get interrupted by the screeching cries of the portraits.

"Worthless!"

"Waste of life!!"

"Mudblood lover!!"

Draco spent the whole night in the room. Eventually when morning came, Narcissa let him out and held Draco close as he cried into her chest. They sat on the floor outside of the portrait room for a while until Draco was ready to get up.

"Your father would like to see you," Narcissa said, helping Draco up. He nodded as Narcissa led him into the study.

Draco stood at the door rubbing his eyes to show no sign of sadness as his father looked up to him.

"You will now know not to sneak into my study, but I will be accompanying you to Diagon Alley as we have business at Borgin and Burkes," Lucius said looking up at Draco. Draco had no words, and couldn't begin to explain his thoughts but he knew his father's actions were justified.

He deserved it and this was his father's way of showing how much he cared about him. Draco stopped crying and wiped his eyes and looked at his father and nodded. Lucius looked at his son and for a minute Draco thought he saw some sympathy in his eyes. Narcissa led Draco out of the study and to his room where she put him into his bed.

Narcissa stroked his hair as Draco fell asleep. He closed his eyes but impulsively covered his ears as all he could hear repeating over and over in his mind was the voices of the paintings on the wall.


	2. The Ripped Page

As the sunlight peered in through the heightened windows of Draco’s bedroom, and crows wept from the elm trees buried outside in the garden, he sat up straight in his bed awaiting his father’s call.

He was wearing the black shirt and trousers he’d become so accustomed to wearing back at Hogwarts. Despite several washes, the still smelt of smoke which came from the Slytherin Dormitory. Earlier, Dobby had come up to summon him downstairs for breakfast but he wasn’t hungry. Instead, Draco slumped on the edge of his bed staring at the window in wait for the beckoning of his father.

Eventually, it came, and after shaking off the morning tiredness, Draco went downstairs. Lucius stood by the unlit fireplace holding a box and his cane, but his face wasn’t the usual uptight expression. “I would like to apologize for my actions over the summer, you do know I want what’s best for you,” Lucius mumbled. Although he didn’t seem as angry as before, he still couldn’t bring himself to look at his son.

Draco looked up and hid a look of shock. “I know Father, it was. I should have never let the muggleborn girl beat me,” Muggleborn girl. Draco snickered in disappointment at himself. He’d heard Hermione Granger mention several times that she only just learned about the wizarding world that year. However sour Draco may’ve been about her overtaking him academically, he couldn’t deny how irritatingly impressive it was.

Lucius grinned at the look on Draco’s face, and moved towards the table, his cane slamming behind him. “Yes. Well, just make sure it doesn’t happen again otherwise she won’t know what’s coming for her.” What did that mean? The more his father mentioned her, the more Draco wished he hadn’t found out about her blood status.

“Seeing as we never discussed the last school year, would you like to enlighten me on what exactly happened between you and… Potter,” He continued whilst taking a seat at the head of the polished table.

Draco was extremely confused at his father's curiosity in Harry Potter, but nodded and quickly took a seat at the table. If this was a moment to get close to his father and make up for his ‘shameful actions’ then surely he would take it.

Draco told Lucius all about how he had met Harry and how the boy who lived turned down his friendship. He spoke of Ron’s annoying face but left out the fight they had gotten in during the one quidditch match that felt as though it was ages ago. Yet finally he got to Hermione Granger. She was the reason he was thrown into that haunting room of haunting voices. Draco began to tell Lucius of her intelligence and even how at one point he envied it. Which in turn made Lucius even more unsettled about his son’s relation to muggle-borns than before.

“Hm, very interesting...and you say Potter was put on the quidditch team in his first year?” Lucius questioned. Draco nodded compliantly in response. He had barely thought about quidditch, but he remembered how Adrian asked him to try out. As much as Draco would love to, but his Clean Sweep could never keep up with Potter’s Nimbus 2000.

Draco looked up from his twiddling thumbs to see Lucius eyeing him. “When we are in Diagon Alley today, I will see about buying you a new model of broomstick,” He said once he got out of the chair and grabbed the box. “Let's go,”

“Let me say goodbye to Mother,” Draco asked, sounding slightly more desperate than he had intended. Half expecting Lucius to get angered at the thought, he instead agreed and pointed in the direction of the garden.

Draco ran out and found his mother sitting on her usual bench reading a book whilst rubbing a stone in her hand. “Mother, Father let me come to say goodbye,” Draco said smiling at her. Narcissa patted her hand next to where she was as if to tell Draco to sit. Once he did, she hugged him tightly and Draco contemplated for a second about actually going with Lucius. The hug reminded him of the one he’d seen so many students share with their parents at the end of last year. Instead of a warm embrace, Draco received a disappointed glare from his father and was left to watch people like Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley receive pecks on the cheeks and other things he knew his parents (mainly his father) would never even think of doing.

“Would you like me to get anything for you,” Draco asked, eventually pulling away as much as it pained him. “Nothing Draco, you just have fun, my love,” Narcissa replied, flashing one last hopeless smile before continuing her book and rubbing the stone.

Before he sprinted back to his father, Draco eyed the stone and swore he saw A.B scratched onto the surface. He didn’t know anyone with those initials so just assumed it had something to do with her book. Draco gave a little wave and walked back to the fireplace where Lucius still stood waiting.

“Hurry now, Draco... Ready?” Lucius asked as he stepped into the fireplace. Draco entered in after him and nodded - His father raised his arm and threw down the floo powder and yelled, “Diagon Alley”.

When Draco opened his eyes he felt the same way he had felt a year prior. The Alley was filled to the brim with witches and wizards getting their school things. He smiled as they both stepped out of the grate and walked onto the main road. 

Draco was so invested in seeing the rest of the shops, and maybe even getting some ice cream from Florean Fortescue's that he forgot who he had come with. He quickly slowed down and followed his father who was walking towards a dimly lit alleyway labeled, Knockturn Alley. 

Draco knew about this place. This was where his father usually went, whenever they used to come to Diagon Alley as a family. Yet, Draco was never allowed to go.

As they walked through the alleyway, Draco stayed right behind his father. He noticed a woman staring at a wall muttering to himself and a man hid behind one of the buildings, staring at him. Lucius suddenly stopped and looked at Draco.

“You see that store over there, Borgin and Burkes? I want you to take this and go there and wait for me, and don’t touch anything,” Lucius sneered as he handed Draco the box and turned around to walk up to a group of men who had just entered the alley. 

Not being left with much of a choice, Draco walked towards the store making sure to hold onto the box as tightly as he could. 

As he approached the store he couldn’t help but admire the displays behind the glass. Having never been in this store he wasn’t sure exactly what to expect so he opened the door and walked inside. Immediately he spotted a bronze statue that caught his eye. His father’s only rule left his mind as he ran his hands over the grooves of the statue. 

Draco was intrigued and genuinely interested in it before, smack, Lucius’s cane smacked inches away from his hand. Draco jumped and immediately pulled his hand back and looked at his father in complete fear.

“Don’t touch anything Draco,” Lucius sneered. Still, in shock, Draco looked up at Lucius. “Yes, Father,”.

As Lucius walked away towards the front of the store Draco gave one last look to the statue before leaving. It was very nice but weird at the same time. He shrugged and followed his father while admiring the other display cases.

This store seemed to have everything, skulls to heads to whatever you could think of, fascinating really.

“Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again,” A voice that seemed to come from behind the counter. Draco looked over to see an older man with oily, grey streaked hair grinning with his rotten teeth at him and his father.

“Delighted – and young Master Malfoy, too – charmed. How may I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and very reasonably priced –”

“I’m not buying today, Mr. Borgin, but selling,” said Lucius as he approached the counter. So this was Borgin. Draco continued to admire the things in the store as Borgin and Lucius talked.  
“Selling?” The smile faded slightly from Mr. Borgin’s face.

“Draco,” Lucius called motioning towards the top of the counter. Draco quickly made his way over and placed the box he had been carrying on the top and went back to looking at one of the glass eyeballs in the cases.

He had stopped paying attention to their conversation. Whatever his father had been so involved with all those years ago, Draco knew he didn’t want him or his mother to be a part of it. Besides, he had been thinking more about school and how excited he was to go back. He still was planning on looking around when they went to Flourish and Blotts for anything on the Basilisk. 

Draco moved over to what looked to be a standing cabinet. He ran his fingers over the front of it admiring the design but once more forgetting his father’s wishes. Draco smirked, magic or not these designs were beautiful. He looked at the bottom of the cabinet and swore he saw a piece of cloth sticking out and before he could grab it, Draco felt the quick breeze of Lucius’s cane fly past him and hit the cabinet causing Draco to once more quickly turn around in fear.

“What did I say?” Lucius sneered once more.

“Touch nothing, Sorry Father,” Draco stumbled, apologizing in the hope he wouldn’t get angered. 

“Very well. This way, now.” Lucius said, turning back towards the counter to get his things. Draco looked back at the cabinet and swore he saw the frames of glasses between the cracks of the boards before turning around and following his father out of the store.

As they made their way out of the dimly lit alley and back towards the brightly lit street, Draco noticed Lucius was now clutching onto a black notebook. Lucius seemed to catch Draco looking and quickly hid the notebook in his robe.

Once they emerged onto the street Lucius turned around to look at Draco. “Go to Flourish and Blotts to get your books, I have something to attend to before I will join you.” Draco nodded and headed towards the store. He did turn around though, to see his father go into Quality Quidditch Supplies which made Draco smile. Was his father really getting him a new broom?

Outside of Flourish and Blootts, there was a banner that read:

GILDEROY LOCKHART  
Will be signing copies of his autobiography  
MAGICAL ME  
Today 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.

Draco scoffed. He had heard about this man before, not to mention all the textbooks this year were written by him. Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart seemed extremely full of himself and Draco wasn’t completely sold on his stories.

He walked into the store that was filled with people trying to catch a glimpse of the self-centered prick. Draco gradually made his way to the stairs, stopping every once in a while to see if he could scour for anyone he might have known, and decided he would just stay on the balcony above the shop until it eventually cleared out.

Draco leaned on the railing and watched the door. He didn’t know really what he was looking for but like magic, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter walked straight through the doors.

Draco watched intensely now as they made their way to Ron and what looked to be his mother. He spotted Hermione walk up to the women he had seen last year along with a man who he could only guess was her father. He bit his lip in order to not cry as he’d done in that room. The thought of muggle’s made him feel uneasy after everything they’d caused, and he felt very lucky that his father wasn’t there.

Gilderoy Lockhart eventually came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large portraits of himself, all winking and flashing his white teeth at the crowd. He wore blue robes and had a pointed wizard’s hat that was set at a wonky angle on his wavy blond hair.

Lockhart waved and smiled at the crowd. Draco could tell he loved this a lot. Then out of nowhere Lockheart leaped to his feet and shouted, “It can’t be Harry Potter?”

The crowd parted and started whispering excitedly. Lockhart dived forward, and seized Harry’s arm, pulling him to the front of the shop. The crowd burst into applause. Draco watched intensely but he was not surprised. He had to remember that Harry Potter was truly a celebrity.

“Nice big smile, Harry,” Lockhart said gripping Harry’s shoulder, “Together, you and I are worth the front page.” Draco scoffed. Front Page? Potter was covered in dust and ash, probably from traveling, like Draco himself, by floo powder, He rubbed his head and continued to watch.

Lockheart seemed to go off and begin talking about something else that Draco was not interested in all. He had diverted his attention to something else, or rather someone else. 

He spotted Hermione Granger’s head in the crowd, something he’d become used to doing. Frustrating and to Draco’s disgust, she seemed entranced by Lockhart. He thought back to last year where he’d envied the sheer thought of not being her friend, but now every single time he looked at her all he could hear was the screaming of those portraits and how they’d spoken about her kind.

Draco stopped leaning on the railing and decided it was time to look for anything on the Basilisk. The store was not going to clear out anytime soon so he might as well make his time here, worth it.

He began skimming through the titles of books until he came about one. The title and binding of the book was so worn down he couldn’t read the entire title but the one word he saw was Monstrosities. Draco opened the cover to see that the book was meant to be at the Hogwarts library, so how did it end up here? He skimmed through the pages, reading the titles until he found it. 

“of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach a gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it."

Draco quickly looked around and ripped the page from the book. Draco wouldn’t usually do this, he got annoyed whenever a book was mistreated, but he needed this and it would take too much time to go and buy it. Quickly shoving the paper in his pocket, he looked up to see that Harry and his little fan group were walking towards the door.

As much as he didn't want to be an arse he did miss making fun of Harry and Ron. “Bet you loved that, didn’t you, Potter?” Draco said walking straight up to the boy who lived. Harry seemed extra annoyed which made it more enjoyable.

“Famous Harry Potter, can’t even go into a bookshop without making the front page.” Draco sneered. 

“Leave him alone.” Said the voice of a girl. Draco looked beside Harry to see a little red-haired girl holding onto a cauldron. No chance, another Weasley. How many kids did they have exactly?

“Oh look Potter, got yourself a girlfriend,” Draco said smiling until he felt the smack of his father’s cane on his shoulder. Draco’s smile immediately dropped and his body tensed. He moved over to the side to let his father in and looked down at his feet.

“Now, now, Draco plays nicely,” His father’s cold voice said as Draco continued to just look at his feet.

“Harry Potter, Lucius Malfoy,” His father said, extending his hand which Potter took. Draco rolled his eyes, of course, Harry Potter would take his father’s hand and not his. Lucius then pulled Harry in to admire his scar which made Draco a bit uneasy. He loved his father, but he was a bit rough at times.

“Your scar is a legend, of course, is the wizard who gave it to you,” Lucius sneered once more.

“Voldemort killed my parents, he was nothing more than a murder,” Harry said, still staring into Lucius’s eyes. Draco was a bit shocked, he had never heard someone say the name, even his father didn’t.

Hermione eventually walked over and stood next to the Weasley girl. Draco watched her hair that seemed to be a bit more tamed… a bit. He still felt sick in his stomach from the idea of what the portraits had spoken about doing to her. The thought of having to not like her was very hard to accept.

“You must be very brave to mention his name, or are you foolish?” Lucius smirked while also not losing eye contact with Harry.

“Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself,” Hermione spoke proudly. Draco hoped she would shut it and not say anything else. He began to worry about what his father could do, for his and her sake. Draco knew Lucius was capable of many things, witnessing quite a few of them himself. He was now grateful to be in such a crowded area, dreading to think what could’ve been if they weren’t.

“And you must be, Miss Granger?” Lucius muttered with disgust lining his words. He glanced at Draco for approval. He reluctantly nodded, causing Lucius to look at him slightly longer than he would’ve had Draco shown no remorse to her. “Yes, Draco’s told me all about you...and you’re parents,”

Draco tightened his fist. He hoped his father would just shut up, and not make this any harder for Draco to accept. Hermione glanced over at her parents who were talking to Wesley senior.

“Muggles, aren’t there?” Lucius questioned. Draco wanted so badly to just be like any other kid and tell their father to stop or pull him out of the shop, but he was hopeless.

“Let me see...red hair... vacant expressions... tatty second-hand book. You must be the Weasleys,” Lucius seemed to be having the time of his life as he picked up one of Weasley's tattered notebooks and ran his hands down the cover. Draco looked at Ron and the other Weasley’s as they all seemed to look down at their feet, embarrassed in a way. 

All of a sudden Ron’s father began to approach them, clearly not aware that Draco’s father was bullying his children. Draco watched as Lucius slipped the tattered notebook as well as the black notebook he was carrying earlier back in the little Weasley’s cauldron.

“Children, it’s mad in here! Let’s go outside.” The man said. His grin seemed to instantly disappear once he saw Lucius.

“Well, well, well. Weasley senior.”

“Lucius.”

“Busy time at the Ministry, Arthur, all those extra raids? I do hope they’re paying you overtime, but judging by the state of this, I’d say not. What’s the use in being a disgrace to the name of a wizard if they don’t even pay you well for it.” Lucius spat. Draco looked over at Harry who was only paying attention to Mr.Weasley.

“We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of the wizard, Malfoy,” Arthur sputtered back, narrowing his eyes at Lucius.

“Clearly. Associating with Muggles... and I thought your family could sink no lower. I’ll see you at work.” Lucius swiftly turned around, slammed his cane down, motioning for Draco to follow.

“See you at school,” Draco said, a bit more aggressively then he intended but it still got the message across. The golden trio seemed to look at him strangely, and even Hermione had flinched at his father’s cane. In a way, as Draco quickly glanced into her eyes, she looked… sorry for him?

Draco followed his father who navigated the busy street back to the grates. “Father, I never got my books,” Draco said looking back at the shop that now had witches and wizards flooding out. 

“I have already ordered everything off your list, they will be at the house tomorrow,” Lucius said, grabbing some floo powder. Draco hurried into the grate and Lucius yelled, Malfoy Manor!

When they arrived back at the manor Draco brushed some of the little dust that had gotten on his pants and stepped out of the grate. Dobby was cleaning the entry hall and when he stopped Lucius and Draco, he quickly apparated away.

“Do you need anything father?” Draco asked, glancing around the empty house. His head hurt and after today he just needed a break. The constant pounding of voices and the thoughts of Potter were all a bit too much. “No you may go,” Lucius said waving his son away and going up the stairs into his office. 

Draco glanced out into the garden to see his mother still sat on the same bench. As much as he wanted to go out there and lay his head on her lap while she read to him, he decided to go to bed. As he climbed the steps to his room and rounded the corner he shuttered. 

The portrait room door was open and he could hear Dobby humming a small tune while he cleaned the frames. Draco quickly walked past the room and once he got to his room he closed the door and fell to the floor.

The room made him feel a way he had never felt before, and he wished it would stop. He held his head and went through the usual thoughts that helped him cope. His friends, Quidditch, his mother, and the stars. Draco got up and changed into his sleeping attire. The page from the shop fell out of his pocket and he stared at it before picking it up. Something told him to hold onto it, that he would need it in the future, so he shoved it into his school trunk and went to bed.

He turned his head and stared at the stars until he felt his eyes closing. Today had been...interesting, and all he wanted to do is escape into his dream world. Where he was the celebrity and Harry Potter wanted to be his friend. Where Ronald Weasley wasn’t so annoying and Hermione Granger wasn’t a muggleborn. Where Theo could have his rat and his parents wouldn’t be mad, or where Blaise could be whoever he wanted without being judged. Where Pansy and he could have normal parents who didn’t get involved with the dark arts. That was his dream world, and that’s where he disappeared to every night he was home.


	3. Back Home

The return to Hogwarts came fast. Draco though had been packed for weeks, excited to finally leave the horrid Manor that barred him so. The voices in his head seemed to become quieter and eventually disappeared. Yet the thought of Hermione Granger or any other muggle born made him feel sick and disgusted with himself.

Dobby took him to the platform this time; His parents were absent on a trip to Russia, planned only a week in advance. Draco didn’t mind though- He needed time to clear his head.

Trunk, satchel, and wand in hand, Draco came down the stairs and walked up the fireplace where Dobby was standing, “Master’s Draco is ready to go, sir?”, Dobby squeaked, he sounded a bit more anxious than usual. Draco just nodded and walked in the fire, engulfed in the usual green flames.

Stepping out onto Platform 9 ¾ for the first time since June felt like a knife had just been taken out of his heart and it could beat normally again. Draco looked to his right to see if Dobby was still there, but he wasn’t… Curious. He shook it off almost immediately though, assuming the elf was just nervous of all the people and went back to the Manor.

Draco practically sprinting up to the train, leaving his trunk with all the others that would eventually find their way on board. As he entered and the aged-scent of the train returned, all he could think about was his friends. He found himself walking faster by the second, peering into the different compartments looking for any sign of his band of Slytherins.

The lack of signs caused Draco to think they hadn't even arrived yet; That, however, was until he saw a rat scurrying down the walkway and disappearing into one of the compartments. He ran and stood in the doorway smiling as he saw Blaise and Theo trying to catch William Ratman, while Pansy laughed. Crabbe and Goyle had already raided the sweets.

They all turned to see Draco standing in the doorway and immediately started grinning. Theo ran up and hugged him. Draco, shocked, hugged Theo back, still smiling. “Ready to go home?” Blaise asked. “Always,” Draco smirked as he took a seat next to Pansy, who hadn’t changed one bit.

The trip to Hogwarts seemed to go by very quickly. They had spent the entire time catching up with each other. Draco never mentioned the portrait room, and just ended up lying and saying that he and his family took a trip to France. Pansy hadn’t even bothered to ask him if he ever found out more about the Basilisk, which was good. Besides, he didn’t want to tell her just yet, he wanted to be sure of it all first.

Eventually, the train came to a halt, opening the carriage doors and allowing eager footsteps of children to fill the air. Draco was the first to leave the train. He wanted to take in the sights of the castle just like he had done previously the year before. It was just as he remembered - still stunning.

Pansy, Blaise, Theo, Crabbe, and Goyle all followed behind him as they were led to a bunch of carriages by the station. They were not pulled by anything, so they all thought it had to be magic.

“What even is that?” Theo said. They all turned to see Theo pointing at the front of the carriage. Everyone’s head turned back to see what exactly Theo was pointing at, but there was nothing there.

“Theo, come on stop being silly, we have a feast to get to!” Blaise said, yanking Theo by his green jumper onto the carriage. Draco watched Theo stare at the front of the carriage the whole ride to the castle. He couldn’t tell exactly, but he knew the usually slow gears in Theo’s brain were suddenly moving very fast.

When they reached the castle Theo seemed to snap out of it and scurried into the entrance before the other’s even had a chance to get off the carriage. But, they all shrugged and followed their weird little friend into the Great Hall for the feast.

They took their usual seats and began talking to their other classmates that they hadn’t seen all summer. Draco was silently following the conversations until Marcus Flint took a seat beside him.

“Hello Draco, can I ask you something?” Marcus whispered. Draco turned his head and nodded towards Flint. He caught the eyes of the other Slytherin Quidditch players eying them.

“Would you like to be the new seeker, we don’t entirely trust Terrence and we don’t want to go through the struggle of tryouts...plus I know you and Potter and have a bit of drama..he’s the only one we are genuinely worried about.” Marcus sneered even though he was making sure to keep this all quiet. Draco’s heart fluttered… Slytherin Seeker? And he didn’t even have to try out.

“My father just got me a new Nimbus 2001. I’ll do it, can’t wait to beat Gryffindor and Potter of course!” Draco said sticking out his hand for Marcus to shake. Marcus, in turn, looked at him wide-eyed. “A Nimbus 2001?! Bloody hell, me and the rest of the team are still stuck on our Cleansweeps..” Marcus said in a jealous tone.

Draco picked up on this. He always seemed to forget that his family was one of the more wealthy families, and that some of them would not even think about giving their child the latest broom. Draco began to panic frantically.

What if they all started to bully him because he had the best broom on the team? Wait no, that was ridiculous. He usually didn’t care when others judged him but if he was going to be playing with the older boys, he would certainly be distraught if they started talking behind his back.

“Erm, well? I can write to my father, he is supposed to be a part of the school. I’m sure he’d happily donate. Well, now that I am on the team…” Draco didn’t even get to finish before Marcus slapped his back and smiled wide. “Thank you so much Draco; Say thanks to your father for me!” Marcus smirked, as he got up from the seat and moved back down with the other teammates.

Draco let out a deep breath. He didn’t want to ask his father, but he’d understand. Right?

He looked to talk to the others when Dumbledore stood up and started talking. Draco could barely pay attention. He began scanning the students around the Great Hall looking for familiar faces. Mostly Harry Potter’s.

Draco looked at the Gryffindor table and didn’t spot the stupidly messy, black hair or even the annoying, freckled beast that usually followed it. Where were they?

Who he did see though, was the one person he didn’t want to. She was sitting next to another girl with curly hair that, if Draco could remember, was Lavender Brown. Her brown eyes fixated on Dumbeldore, taking in every word. He caught her glancing occasionally at Gilderoy Lockhart who had surprisingly taken over Quirrel’s job as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Great really, another totally looney that would be teaching them nothing.

He watched as all the new first years made their way to the front of the hall. Draco smiled reflecting how they had all done that just the year prior. He remembered the nerves of sitting on the stool and wondered how many of those children had it. Draco spotted the little Weasley girl standing by another girl with blond hair. He didn’t recognize anyone else.

The hat sang his usual song and McGonagall began the sorting.

Hufflepuff….Ravenclaw!

Draco watched a blond girl who looked oddly familiar skip to the Ravenclaw table. For a split second, they made eye contact, she had the same silvery eyes he did. “Pansy, what was that girl's name?” Draco asked, still looking at the Ravenclaw table. “Oh, Luna Lovegood,” Pansy answered immediately. He continued to watch the rest of the students get sorted, instead of hurting his brain trying to remember where he knew her from.

Gryffindor...Slytherin!

A boy named Harpy Rowie joined the Slytherin table, sitting close to Marcus. The boy seemed alright, but then again Draco didn’t care about anyone in the year below. He just wanted them to look up to him and now that he was on the Quidditch team he was going to be part of the most respected groups in Slytherin. Not that he wasn’t already.

Ravenclaw...Gryffindor!

Ginny Weasley was the last one to be sorted and of course, she joined her other family members. She took a seat next to Hermione Granger and immediately the whispering to each other began. Draco watched as they pointed at Lockhart and giggled. Not them as well, he thought, feeling as though he was about to vomit.

Dumbledore began to drone on and introduced Lockhart who presented the stupidest speech Draco had ever heard. He rambled on about the Werewolves he had fought and the vampires he had slain, which seemed like utter rubbish.

He simply wanted to go to bed and the constant bickering of children just reminded him of the portraits. Draco put his head down and tried to flood his head with other memories: His birthday party from last year, or just hanging by the black lake after the quidditch match.

Suddenly, he heard the others around him shifting and he prepared to answer their questions later in the common room. He drew his head up to see everyone starting to eat. Crabbe and Goyle, of course, were already on their second slice of gammon and Theo was shoving bits of food into his pockets for the rat.

“You alright mate?” Blaise asked as he took a drink from his goblet,

“Marcus asked me to be on the Quidditch team, seeker,” Draco said bluntly, hoping they would think that’s why he’s been acting weird.

“No way Draco; that’s amazing!” Pansy excitedly said, nudging his shoulder.

“You’re joking! Now we have someone good to cheer for!” Blaise said, smiling wide. Theo flashed a proud smile but for once seemed to have nothing to say which made Draco relatively worried.

It had been a boring feast after that. Glimpses of the Gryffindor’s bushy hair made him uneasy. Very uneasy. Pansy mocked her a bit and for the first time, Draco felt tempted to join in with her but in the end, refrained from doing so and since they all were stuffed, Dumbledore sent them off to their dormitories.

The slow descent to the dungeons was treacherously long. Almost everyone had stomach pains from eating too fast; Crabbe and Goyle suffered the worst of them all, their bellies constantly groaning with gluttony. New prefects lead them to the dorm and the six of them collapsed hopelessly on the sofa.

“It feels so good to be back,” Blaise said as he stretched out on the sofa putting his legs on Theo’s lap. Theo stayed silent feeding Willaim Ratman the bits of ham he had snuck from the Great Hall.

“Yea it does...I'm going to write a letter to my father quickly,” Draco said getting up and heading towards one of the tables in the back corner. “Draco writing to his father? Where are we?” Blaise said sitting up. Crabbe and Goyle laughed annoyingly and Draco shot them a look, which resulted in them putting their heads back down and looking at their feet.

Draco shook his head and grabbed a piece of parchment and began writing:

Dear Father,

I was recently notified that I had made the Slytherin Quidditch team as the new seeker! Seeing as I now have a Nimbus 2001, and the rest of the team has Cleansweeps. If there is anything you could do to support the team, it would be greatly appreciated.

Draco

Draco stared at the letter. Asking his father for things seemed especially wrong, but seeing as it was for Marcus and the team may be his father would make the exception. He stood up, shoving the letter in his pocket, deciding it would be best to go to the owlery in the morning before breakfast.

He decided to go into the dormitories for the rest of the night seeing as there was nothing else he wanted to talk about with the others. Before ducking down the stairs, he watched as they all were laughing and having a great time. Even Theo seemed to get over himself and joined in on the fun. Draco smiled and headed down the stairs.

Seeing his bed again felt so wonderful. Draco ran up to his trunk that was neatly placed on the end of the bed and opened it. He looked around for the ripped page and found it underneath a box of sweets his mother had snuck in.

Being at Hogwarts and away from her was truly the only downside. At least they had Christmas. Draco pulled the page out, closed the trunk, and sat on his bed. He wished he knew more, had more about the beast in the chamber. Draco shoved the paper under his pillow. He would check the library tomorrow as well see if he could find anything else.

Draco heard the others start to come down the stairs seeing as Blaise and Theo were now howling with laughter. He quickly dressed into his nightclothes and got under the covers pretending to be asleep.

“Wow, Malfoy the first one in bed,” Blaise sang. “Shhh, he’s asleep you goon,” Goyle whispered. Draco heard Crabbe and Theo giggle as they all walked over to their beds. He heard them all get in and in a couple of minutes Crabbe’s snores filled the air. Draco felt his eyes close and immediately drifted to sleep. Usually, he would go into his fantasy world of happy memories, but he was back home now and the only happy memories he needed were sleeping around him.


	4. Mudblood

"Those are mine, Theo…" 

"No, they are not! Why were they on my bed then!"

Draco opened his eyes to see both of his friends pulling on a single sock as they continued to bicker. He laughed and rolled out of bed, his feet touching the cold stone floor. Draco moved to the bathroom, where he went to go put on his uniform and slick his hair back like usual. When he came out, the sock was now ripped and laid on the floor.

"Look what you've done!" Theo threw his hands up and quickly grabbed another pair and ran out of the dorms. 

"He's been acting so weird, over a sock...I was only messing with him," Blaise said, rolling his eyes and pointing his wand at the sock mumbling reparo. Blaise picked up the sock and shoved it into his robe pocket and ran out of the dorms.

"Should I have told them that was my sock?" Crabbe said, appearing behind him. Draco smacked his head and walked out of the dorms following Blaise.

Draco entered the Great Hall, followed by Crabbe and Goyle, when he noticed that Harry and Ron were sitting at the Gryffindor table like they have been here the entire time. Draco quickly ran to the Slytherin table and took a seat across from Pansy. He didn't have to say anything as Pansy looked up and smiled.

"Apparently they missed the train and flew here with a car and then crashed into the whomping willow on the grounds. I thought they would have gotten expelled, but as it turns out, Potter's luck has come back for another year." Pansy said before taking another bite of her ham.

Draco wasn't shocked. At this point, Potter was never going to get in any serious trouble regardless of what happens. He eyed the Trio until he heard the noise of entering the Great Hall. 

Draco wasn't expecting anything; he still had the letter for his father in his pocket. He meant to send it before Breakfast, but hunger overtook that decision.

An owl swooped down and dropped a letter in front of Theo and Pansy. Draco watched as they opened their letters and looked immediately more annoyed than anything. He tried to flash them a reassuring smile, but he realized quickly he wasn't great at consoling people. Draco reached for his goblet to take a drink of his pumpkin juice when he noticed an owl sitting next to him with a letter in its beak addressed to Draco Malfoy.

He grabbed the letter out of his beak and quickly opened it. Who would have written to him, and why?

Dear Draco,

Snape oweled me last night to tell me of your new position as Slytherin Seeker. He also mentioned the team's need for new brooms. I have bought the entire team Nimbus 2001's and they should arrive before the start of your practices. I will be attending your first match against Gryffindor at the beginning of the season. Good job.

Lucius Malfoy

Draco hid the letter quickly. 

"Good Job"

Draco felt his face heat up. Those two words meant so much to him, and he wasn't even sure his father meant it.

"What's up with you?" Blaise smirked, noticing Draco's changed attitude.

"Nothing, I-" Draco began before a woman's voice boomed over the chatter of children.

"- STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE –"

Draco and the others stood up, looking for the source of the nose. His eyes landed on a flaming red-letter right in front of Ronald Weasley's face. It was a Howler.

"- LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU, HARRY COULD ALL HAVE DIED –"

Draco bit his lip. Could have died? Was it that serious?

"- ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED – YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

Draco knew his father was probably having a lot of fun with that. Yet the desire to get Weasley in trouble so he could be sent back home seemed almost too tempting to pass up. The hall went silent, and all eyes were on the embarrassed red-haired boy.

"Wow, I wouldn't want to mess with Weasley's mum," Blaise chuckled. Draco watched as the Trio hid their heads. 

"Mr.Malfoy, what is it you find so interesting," A familiar voice snarled behind him. Draco turned to see Professor Snape holding Draco's course schedule. His face turned almost as red as Ron's as he grabbed the paper and sat back down.

"Also, congratulations on making the Quidditch team," Snape answered quickly before walking down the rest of the Slytherin table, handing out more schedules.

"Potions with the Ravenclaws and then Defense with Lockheart and the Gryffindors, oh, I can't wait!" Pansy said, holding the schedule close to her chest. Theo pretended to throw up, making the whole table laugh and resulted in Pansy smacking his arm.

They got to potions early and took the same seats they had last year. Consumed by conversation and not paying attention to the Ravenclaw's now entering the dungeon, they talked about summer and their school year plans.

Draco had to become top of the class this year. He could not let what happened this summer happen again. He had already studied a lot of what he would learn this year, so he would hope to see Granger try to catch up with him.

Snape entered the class and began talking about a sleeping draught that Draco had already read about last year. The book Snape had given him helped a lot to the point where Draco didn't even really have to listen in class. The thought of Quidditch and being able to finally play stayed in his mind till Snape finished and assigned an essay on Flobberworm Mucas.

"So Malfoy, when's your first practice," Theo sang as he skipped down the halls towards the Great Hall. Draco hadn't realized they had been in Potions for that long that it was time for lunch now. 

"I'm not sure; I'll ask Flint tonight," Draco shrugged as they all walked onto the courtyard. Draco spotted a blond-haired boy standing by Harry and Ron with a camera? Draco turned towards Blaise and nudged his shoulder, getting his attention.

"Look what Potter's got...a fan," Draco snickered. 

"You're going to go say something, aren't you," Blaise giggled.

Draco smiled and walked over to Harry, motioning for Crabbe and Goyle to follow him like usual.

"Signed photos? You're giving out signed photos, Potter?" Draco sneered. He missed the playful bullying him and Potter did, and it felt fantastic to do it again.

"Everyone, line up!" Draco roared to the crowd. "Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!"

"No, I'm not, Shut up, Malfoy," Harry said in quite an angry tone.

"You're just jealous," piped up the blond boy.

"Jealous?" said Draco, who noticed half the courtyard was listening in. "Of what? I don't want a foul scar right across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself."

Crabbe and Goyle started laughing, which made Draco smile. It was an excellent insult.

"Eat slugs, Malfoy," Ron said, staring intensely in his direction. Draco heard Crabbe stop laughing and move a bit closer to him, but Draco didn't want Crabbe to help him.

"Be careful, Weasley," Draco sneered. "You don't want to start any trouble, or your mommy will have to come and take you away from school." Draco smiled and attempted to mimic Ron's mother, "If you put another toe out of line –"

Draco turned to see a bunch of the older Slytherin's laugh, which made him smile. He was getting their attention.

"What's all this, what's all this?" 

Draco turned to see Gilderoy Lockhart striding toward them, his turquoise robes swirling behind him. "Who's giving out signed photos?"

Draco heard Harry start to speak, but he was cut off when Lockhart flung an arm around his shoulders and shouted, "Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry!"

Draco rolled his eyes. He had forgotten Lockheart was a fan of the infamous boy who lived. 

The bell rang, signaling the start of afternoon classes, and Draco quickly made his exit.

"Oi, Malfoy!" One of the Slytherin's called out. It was Miles Bletchley, the Slytherin Keeper. He ran up to them, smiling. 

"You were funny back there, can't wait to see you on the pitch later," Miles said, smacking Draco's back. Draco nodded happily, feeling absolutely over the moon.

"Well look who's becoming a celebrity himself," Theo sung as they walked back into the castle and headed towards Lockheart's class.

No one was entirely thrilled about Lockheart's class. Well, Draco said no one, but he later found out half the girls in the year fancied him. Draco found this out because Pansy couldn't shut up.

"I heard he's brilliant, such a brave man, and a Ravenclaw as well!" Pansy sang as they entered the classroom. Draco and Goyle took their seats in the back while Crabbe and Pansy sat to their left. Blaise and Theo were late as always but sat in front of them.

When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly, and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Longbottom's copy of Travels with Trolls, and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front.

"Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award – but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

He waited for them to laugh, and surprisingly a few people smiled weekly.

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books – well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about – just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in –"

"Well, it was on the bloody list, you dimwitt," Blaise muttered under his breath, causing the Slytherin's to giggle.

Lockheart shot them an insecure glare and begun handing out test papers. He then strutted to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes – start – now!"

Draco looked down at his paper and read:

1\. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

2\. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?

3\. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?

On and on it went, over three sides of the paper, right down to:

54\. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?

"How are we supposed to know any of this?!" Theo whispered to Pansy, making her laugh, yet she had already answered at least ten questions. Draco sighed and wrote the most blizzard answers he could think of.

Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class.

"Tut-tut – hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in Year of the Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves a bit more carefully – I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples – though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky!"

He gave them another roguish wink. Draco saw Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, two Gryffindor boys he barley paid mind to usually, shaking with silent laughter. His eyes shifted towards Hermione, who, on the other hand, was listening to Lockhart intensely.

"…but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions – good girl! In fact," – he flipped her paper over – "full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"

Draco watched as Hermione shyly raised her hand.

"Excellent!" beamed Lockhart. "Excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so – to business –"

He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it.

"Now – be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

Draco stared at the cage; his curiosity overtaking his thoughts. It couldn't be anything too dangerous, could it? Dean and Seamus had stopped laughing now. Longbottom was cowering in his seat as Lockheart snickered at all of them.

"I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low menacing voice. "It might provoke them."

As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover.

"Yes," Lockheart said dramatically. "Freshly caught Cornish pixies."

Seamus Finnigan couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.

"Yes?" He smiled at Seamus.

"Well, they're not – they're not very – dangerous, are they?" Seamus choked.

"Don't be so sure!" said Lockhart, wiggling a finger annoyingly at Seamus. "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!"

The pixies were a bright blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill Draco could have mistaken them for Dobby. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started chattering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making weird faces at the students nearest them.

"Right, then," Lockhart roared. "Let's see what you make of them!" And he opened the cage.

It went into immediate chaos. Pixies flew in every direction. Two of them seized Longbottoms by the ears and lifted him into the air. Several shot straight through the window, causing the glass to shower the floor. The rest grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, up-ended the wastebasket, grabbed bags and books, and threw them out of the smashed window.  
"Come on now – round them up, round them up, they're only pixies," Lockhart shouted.

"IS HE MENTAL?! WHAT IS IT WITH TEACHERS HAVING NO COMMON SENSE!" Blaise screamed, hiding under his desk as Piskies continued to zoom around the classroom.

Draco from under his desk as Lockheart rolled up his sleeves, pointed his wand at the sky, and bellowed, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"

Draco knew that spell, and he knew it wouldn't work. One of the pixies seized his wand and threw it out of the window, too. Lockhart gulped and dived under his desk, narrowly avoiding being squashed by Neville, who fell a second later as the chandelier gave way.

Draco held his head, trying to remember the spell to immobilize the pixies when he watched Hermione stand up and point her wand at the sky just as Lockheart did and yelled, "Immobulus!" 

Draco watched as all the pixes stopped moving, and the class turns from utter chaos into something so calm. Hermione smiled and put her wand back into her pocket. Draco stared at her and almost envied her once more. Potter and Weasley smiled at her and begun congratulating her. He almost wanted to say brilliant job, Hermione or Nice Spell Granger, but immediately the voices from the portrait room rang in his mind, and he became disgusted by the thought.

"Let's get out of here," Draco said, turning around and running out of the classroom, hoping the Trio didn't see him.

Draco sat on one of the benches catching his breath, the voices were fading away, and the world seemed to go back to being silent. He heard footsteps walk up to him and stop right beside him. Draco half expected it to be Blaise or even Pansy, but when he looked up, Harpy Rowie was standing awkwardly while holding a small piece of parchment in his face.

"Marcus told me to give this to you, practice schedule," Harpy said. Draco took the parchment and mumbled a quick thanks, and waited for Harpy to walk away before looking at it.

Draco stared at the words on the parchment and sighed.

Sunday, Morning. Quidditch robes are on your bed.

At least he had something to look forward to.

Sunday came quickly. He had almost forgotten about it until Theo had awoken him half-six telling him Marcus was waiting for him at the top of the stairs.

Draco quickly changed into his robes and grabbed his new broom that had been sitting by his trunk ever since it came last Tuesday. He hadn't even taken it out of the package even though Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise all begged him too. Draco sighed, unravel the paper around the broom, and smiled. 

It was a beautiful black, and the bristles at the end faded into Slytherin green. Draco grabbed the broom and proudly exited the dormitories leaving Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle to gawk by themselves.

Draco reached the top of the stairs and saw Marcus, Miles, Adrian, and a few other Slytherins huddled by the common room's exit. 

"You ready?" Adrian smirked.

"Sure," Draco said weekly, still rubbing the gunk out of his eyes.

They all marched towards the pitch silently, yet Marcus and Adrian seemed to be whispering about something. Draco heard the word mudblood slip a few times and just chose to ignore it. 

Draco was watching his feet and how the grass flattened after each step until he looked up to see that the others slow their pace, and we're now approaching the Gryffindor team.

"Flint!" A tall, brown-haired boy shouted. Draco recognized him from watching Gryffindor play last year; it was Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor captain. "This is our practice time! We got up, specially! You can clear off now!"

Marcus was bigger than Wood, so Draco knew that Flint would be victorious if there were a brawl. 

"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood." Marcus sneered.

Draco watched three girls walk up behind Wood and cross their arms as if they were going to try and beat up Marcus themselves.

"But, I booked the field!" Oliver cried, spitting with rage. "I booked it!"

"Ah," said Flint. "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. 'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker.'"

"You've got a new Seeker?" said Wood, distracted. "Where?"

Draco took this as his sign to make his big reveal to Harry, that he too can play this game. 

"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" said one of the Weasley twins. 

"Funny, you should mention Draco's father," said Flint as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."

Draco watched as the entire team flashed their brooms, causing the Gryffindors to stare beady-eyed at their new brooms.

"Very latest model. Only came out last month," Marcus said carelessly. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps", Marcus sneered at the twins who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives – "sweeps the board with them."

Draco watched as the rest of the team snickered, which he relecutenlty followed, they were his teammates after all.

"Oh, look," said Flint. "A field invasion."

Draco watched as Ron and Hermione were now running over. Why did they always have to be involved?

"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry. "Why aren't you playing? And what's he doing here?"

Draco wanted to jump on him so severely and pull out his flaming red hair but kept his composure. "I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley. Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."

Ron gaped, which made Draco smile wide. He didn't care about anything else; pissing off Ron was enough for him.

"Good, aren't they?" Draco said proudly, for once feeling perfectly okay with flexing his father's money. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them." 

The Slytherin team howled with laughter, which made Draco smile even wider. He loved getting this type of attention. Sure, what he was saying was cruel, but it made them like him more, which was okay with him.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," Hermione's voice said over the laughter of Slytherins. "They got in on pure talent."

Draco's smile dropped. He immediately looked at Flint, who began to glare at Hermione. Draco knew if he didn't say anything, Flint would, and as much as he disliked Hermione at the moment, Flint saying anything to her would make him feel horrible. She didn't deserve it.

So Draco said the first thing that came out of his mouth. He knew she would hate him. He knew she knew what it meant. Yet, he would take the hatred because he hoped she knew he was better than this. 

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," Draco quickly spat.

There was an instant uproar at his words. Flint dived in front of him to stop Fred and George from jumping on him. A girl shrieked, "How dare you!".

Draco watched as Hermione put both hands to her mouth in shock, and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" and pointed it furiously under Flint's arm at Draco's face.

A loud bang echoed around the stadium, and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling backward onto the grass. 

"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" squealed Hermione running by his side.

Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he coughed, and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth onto his lap.

The Slytherin team was paralyzed with laughter. Marcus was laughing so hard he hung onto his broomstick for support. Regardless of what he had just said, Draco was on all fours, banging the ground with his fist. This was Ron's payback for attacking him last year, and it couldn't be better. The thought of the insult at Hermione escaped his mind as the laugher of the Slytherins entered it.

The Gryffindors were gathered around Ron, who kept belching large, glistening slugs. Nobody wanted to touch him.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," Harry said to Hermione, who nodded and pulled Ron up by the arms.

Draco wiped his eyes from laughter and watched Hermione and Harry walk away. He watched Hermione turn her head to give one last glare in his direction. Draco hoped she knew he didn't mean it, but now that he was thinking of it more, did he?

"Come on, let's go practice, stupid Gryffindor's always trying to ruin it," Marcus said, grabbing his broom and continuing his walk to the pitch.

The rest of the team followed a few of them, still howling from laughter.

"Good job Draco gave that mudblood what she deserved," Adrian snickered, smacking his back.

Draco gave a half-hearted chuckle and slowed his steps until he ended up behind everyone. If everyone liked what he did, why did he feel so bad about it?

He practiced horribly. His mind wasn't in the right place at all. 

Mudblood...Mudblood...Mudblood

Practice ended around lunch after they all waited for Draco to catch the snitch. Draco awkwardly got off his broom and headed straight back into the castle to go to the common room.

It was Sunday, so he had some homework assignments, but he could care less; he just wanted to go to sleep, his head was pounding.

Draco laid his broom down by his trunk and changed out of his robes into something more comfortable. He got into his bed and covered himself with the blanket, immediately falling asleep.

Good Job Draco gave that mudblood what she deserved.

Draco covered his head with the pillow. The phrase repeated over and over again until he decided to think of something else. He thought back to what kept him sane in the portrait room, memories of his friends, and his time at Hogwarts last year. It worked for a while until the thought shifted into something else.

The voices of the portrait room and Draco fell asleep, his face consumed into the pillow with the same word repeating over and over again until he felt his mind grow numb.

Mudblood...Mudblood...Mudblood


	5. Enemies of the Heir Beware

October came quickly. The fall breeze swept through the castle creating the most festive pre-winter vibes. Quidditch practices had become more frequent, and studying for classes seemed to get a bit harder. Draco had no issue, though.

He hardly slept anymore, but it was all going to be worth it. The match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was sneaking upon him, and Draco wanted to make sure he would play his best. After all, his father was coming, and that meant everything had to be perfect for him.

Blaise and Pansy were getting on Draco for not having enough time to have fun, but it didn't bother him as much as they thought. The constant thought of school and Quidditch made him forget about two things, the portrait room and Hermionie.

After calling her a mudblood, part of him wanted to apologize, yet another didn't. If she hated him and didn't talk to him anymore, maybe he would never want to be her friend. It would be better if she disliked him for both of them.

One night in the common room, when Draco was busy filling in his Star Chart for Astronomy, Pansy approached him and took a seat in front of him. They were the only two still awake, and Draco just thought she would go on another lecture about Lockheart.

"Draco, you know when I came over this summer, and we heard our fathers talking about something called the chamber of secrets?" She kept her voice low even though no one was in the common room. Draco had forgotten about the chamber; his attention had mostly been on the Basilisk.

"Yea? What, did you find out something?" Draco whispered back, pushing away the star chart.

"Well, when I went back home, I raided our library to see if there was anything about it," She held her breath, "The Chamber of Secrets was made by Salazar Slytherin before he left Hogwarts, it's believed to be a myth; However I don't think it is anymore." Pansy looked at him to make sure he was paying attention.

"What does it mean, though?" Draco rolled his eyes, irritated that she had stopped talking.

"Well, there is a creature in there, a Basilisk...But that's all I found out." Pansy looked down. She looked tired, and Draco wondered why she was telling him all this. He never told her about the page and wasn't planning on it.

Draco felt ashamed that he still had that paper. He knew whatever was going on involved Harry, and that singular page could help, but why would he want to help Potter? The same boy who had made the last year hell, who embarrassed him and made him feel less. Draco's mind drifted off, completely forgetting Pansy was still sitting right in front of him.

"Well? Did you find anything out?" Pansy whispered once more. Draco shook his head.

She must not know yet.

"Alright, well if you do let me know, I'm headed off to bed," Pansy got up and gave a little wave before disappearing down the stairs into the dorms. Draco was left alone, with only the subtle noise of the black lake in the background.

Draco closed his eyes and thought back to the conversation he overhead Mr.Parkinson and his father has.

"Edward, I assure you everything is under control; the chamber of secrets will open once more. It has been 50 years since it last opened, so we shall hope the Dark Lord has planned ahead,"

So it had been opened before, 50 years ago. Draco opened his eyes. It was getting late, and he was still sat alone at his usual table, when all of a sudden, it hit him. There had to be records of what happened, mostly if it was big enough that the Dark Lord was involved, but where would they be kept?

There was only one place he could guess. The library.

It was half-past two, and everyone in the castle had to be asleep, and there were no chance teachers were still doing their rounds. The only thing he had to worry about was Peeves.

Draco snuck out of the common room and crept up the stairs towards the library. It felt weird doing it by himself; usually, Blaise or Theo came with him, but he needed to find this out on his own. Draco made his way to the library floor, pushed the door open, and snuck his way inside.

He didn't worry about making up some silly little story; if he got caught, he would get in trouble either way. Draco sneaked through the dark towards the back of the library, finding anything he possibly could about what had happened 50 years ago.

Draco looked for about 30 minutes, not finding anything, and was about to give up when he stumbled upon a stack of old Daily Prophets. His heart jumped, and he immediately began searching for them, looking at the dates. 

1955,1954,1946...1943!

Draco quickly mumbled Lumos and read through the paper. The front page didn't have anything on it, but when he flipped onto the inside wherein big letters it said:

Muggleborn Girl dies at Hogwarts Death: Unknown

Draco's heart raced. So the Basilisk killed Muggleborns. He heard a loud noise outside and the laughing of no other than Peeves, the poltergeist. Draco mumbled nox and sprinted out of the library and straight towards the dungeons, not looking back.

Days passed since Draco's visit to the library, and the Halloween celebrations had begun. Theo had his infamous bright orange jumper with a pumpkin on the front and had somehow managed to get William Ratman a matching one.

After their classes, they stayed in the common room until Dinner, just chatting by the fire. Other Slytherins were in and out, but all the older kids were in Marcus's dorm, opening a bottle of fire whisky.

Draco was reading from a book he had grabbed off the shelves while occasionally glancing up to see what they all were doing. Theo and Blaise were trying to get William Ratman to dance while Crabbe and Goyle watched in amusement, and for the first time, Pansy wasn't with them. Draco shrugged and kept reading until he felt a cold shift in the air.

"Ah, been a while since we've seen you, Baron," Blaise smirked as the house ghost passed through the common room.

"I've been stuck worrying about that bloody poltergeist, real scoundrel..." The Bloody Baron mumbled.

"What you doing here then, I suspect he would be trying to do things to ruin the feast," Theo exclaimed, glancing at the time.

"The Gryffindor Ghost, Nicholas, or whatever, is having his death day party, and I was invited, stopped here to get some peace and quiet before I am feared by half the castle," The ghost sighed.

"I'm sure you're a real rager at parties," Goyle smirked, which made the Baron glance at him menacingly.

"Oh Yea completely, if only Helena wasn't there, that blasted women...Well, I'm off," The Slytherin Ghost said before disappearing through the wall.

"Who knew such a scary-looking man could be so lovely," Theo said before getting up and walking towards the exit of the common room, "To the feast we go!"

The feast was overall lovely. Draco drank more pumpkin juice then he thought he could, while Crabbe and Goyle stuffed their face with every single pastry in sight. Pansy had joined them halfway through and said she was with the other girls in the house. Draco had forgotten about them a bit.

He knew about Daphne Greengrass, her family was part of the sacred twenty-eight, and he was sure they had properly met one time. Millicent Bludstrode, who he remembered seeing at the sorting ceremony last year but barely knew her. Pansy seemed to care for her, so at least she had someone.

Draco spent the last few minutes of Dinner eying the Gryffindor table like always.

He always looked for Potter first, who shockingly, wasn't there.

Then he looked for the red-haired git who, no surprise, wasn't there.

Finally, he looked for Hermione, who, as you may guess wasn't there.

If this beast was killing muggle-borns, she could be next. Even though Draco wanted to hate her and it would be more beneficial if she did die, he wouldn't want it. He did decide, though, that acting like her bully might make his envious feelings of her go away. He shifted his gaze from the table and looked down at his plate for the remainder of Dinner.

When it ended, the students flooded out slowly. Draco and the others lingered back a bit since Theo was trying to steal more pastries for William Ratman later.

Eventually, they all left and were about to head down into the dungeons when they heard the other students' whispers and gasps in the hallway over. Confused but curious, Draco walked quickly in the direction of the whispers.

The floor was wet, and it looked as though all of Hogwart was standing gasping at the wall; Draco pushed to the front with Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and Theo behind him. When he got there and looked up at the wall, his heart stopped.

Written in blood was the message:

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir... beware

Draco looked down to see Ms.Norris, Filch's cat, and Hermione, Harry, and Ron all stood under the bloody message. He looked to his left to see Flint and Adrian snicker. They had to know, and if they did, they would say something. So Draco said the first thing that came to mind like always, and like always, he would regret it later.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

The word rolled off his tongue a bit more freely this time. Draco's eyes immediately met with Hermione's, who didn't look mad at all, more intimidating, but not mad. Did that mean she understood?

"What's going on here? What's going on?" Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd. When he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in horror.

"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked.

Filch noticed Harry standing underneath the cat, and his eyes bulged open.

"You!" he screeched. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll –"

"Argus!"

Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by several other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past Harry, Ron, and Hermione and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket.

"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."

Lockhart stepped forward eagerly.

"My office is nearest, Headmaster – just upstairs – please feel free –"

"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.

The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart, looking extremely excited and important, hurried after Dumbledore; so did Professors McGonagall and Snape.

All of the students glanced at each other for a moment before heading towards their common room.

"Draco once again letting that Mudblood know her place, a true Slytherin might I say," Marcus grinned, smacking Draco on the back before catching up with Adrian and Miles.

Draco smirked. He was finally getting noticed and praised by the older kids.

A true Slytherin...

His father would be proud to hear that.

When he arrived back in the dorms, he quickly changed into his nightclothes and dove under the covers. He pulled the piece of paper that was still under his pillow and looked at it.

The Basilisk was now let loose in the castle, and only he knew about it. His father played a role in this, but what? How had his father known so far in advance that the chamber would open? And how did this all relate to Harry? Was Harry the heir of Salazar Slytherin?

Draco fell asleep with the page clutched in his hand, still thinking of ways he could understand what's going on. As much as he resented the idea of helping the trio, would his knowledge of what's happening save them? And if he did save them, what would that mean for him and his father.


	6. Quidditch and Duels

Since the writing on the wall, nothing else seemed to happen. The thought seemed to escape Draco’s mind a lot more now as the quidditch match against Gryffindor was coming closer. He had been training even without the team by himself, making sure he would be able to beat Potter. 

His time on the pitch had taken away from his studies and he was so behind until Pansy and Blaise offered to help him with assignments. Draco wasn’t sure if they knew how much it meant to him, but a small part of him did. Since his father was coming it seemed as though everyone was hoping the best for him.

Eventually, the dreaded Saturday approached and Draco awoke before the mermaids in the lake. He immediately got up and ran to the bathroom to throw up. The nerves were getting to him and the fear of failure was also creeping upon him.

Theo and Blaise eventually woke up and sat beside him as he continued to spew into the toilet. 

When Draco finally stopped Theo handed him a glass of water and gave a small smile.

“Don’t worry Draco, you’ll do great, Me and William Ratman will be cheering for you! Just think about that,” His cheery voice sung as he got up and walked back into the dorms. Blaise rubbed his back and laughed.

“You heard the man, don’t let your father being there shake you,” Blaise said and then got closer to his ear and whispered, “and worst comes to worst, make fun of Potter that always cheers you up,”. The Slytherin gave a cunning wink and got up to join Theo in getting dressed for the day.

Draco laughed to himself a bit and then decided it was time. He got up off the floor and walked into the dorms to change into his quidditch robes. He decided he was going to win this game, and show Potter who exactly he was messing with.

The entire Slytherin house left the dungeons close to eleven to make their way over to the pitch. Blaise, Theo, Pansy, and Crabbe, and Goyle had all left to get to their seats which left Draco alone to be in a nervous wreck. Marcus and Adrian were waiting in the tent for him and begun running over the plays with no hesitation.

“Now Draco, Terrance used to be excellent at the Wronski Feint and of course we don’t expect you to know it, but we think it would throw off Potter,” Marcus said smacking his back and then talking to the rest of the team. Adrian and Miles flashed Draco and smile and then crowded around Marcus.

Draco knew exactly what the Wronski Feint was, doing it though, seemed impossible. He was too nervous and throwing in something he hadn’t practiced could ruin everything.

Time moved so fast that before you know it Draco and the rest of the team were mounting their brooms and flying onto the pitch. Hearing the cheers and seeing the flashes of waving green, red, blue, and yellow flags made Draco smile. He spotted Theo waving William Ratman in the air and Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle all cheering for him as Draco flew to his position.

He was so happy in the moment that when he glanced over at the teacher section and saw Snape and his father his smile seemed to dim down. Lucius Malfoy was dressed in all black and casually whispering to Snape’s ear any chance he got. Draco took a deep breath and flooded his mind with the thoughts of beating Harry.

Madam Hooch entered onto the pitch with the Quaffle and asked Flint and Wood to shake hands, which they did while giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary.

“On my whistle,” said Madam Hooch. “Three…two…one…”

With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. Draco spotted Harry flying upwards and decided to join him.

make fun of Potter that always cheers you up

“All right there, Scar-head?” Draco yelled, shooting underneath Harry to show off the speed of his new broom.

Before Harry had time to reply, a heavy black Bludger pelted toward him. Draco laughed a little as he watched Harry duck, narrowly avoiding its impact.

Draco watched as one of the twins flew up to Potter and say something. He figured if he was going to find the snitch at all he was going to have to stay close to Harry just in case he did somehow spot it first. Draco squinted in the direction of the lanky red-haired boy just as he swung his beater bat and hit the bludger that had just flown at Harry.

His eyes opened wide as the Bludger seemed to get closer and just as he shut his eyes he heard a yell of confusion coming from the twin. The Bludger had spun around and focused on Harry once more.

Draco watched as Harry flew around the pitch trying to escape the bludger. This was feeling a bit weird, a bludger never focuses that much on a player. Draco felt his eyes drifting the pitch and he swore he saw a glimpse of a dirty pillowcase hidden under one of the stands.

Before he could question it, the rain started to fall and Draco’s attention diverted back to the main objective. The snitch.

Lee Jordan’s voice rang over the pitch announcing the score. “Slytherin lead, sixty points to zero ”

The new brooms were definitely doing justice. Draco glanced at his father who was smirking up in the booth. Was he proud? Impressed? Not Impressed? His mind seemed to not focus on one thing and kept shifting between his father, harry, and that ruddy dirty pillowcase.

Madam Hooch’s whistle rang out and Draco flew over to the other Slytherin’s who were already huddled at the bottom cheering.

“We are going to bloody crush them, just catch the snitch Draco and we can end them!” Marcus snarled. For some odd reason, he felt highly motivated after that statement. Draco joined in the cheers, pumping his fists in the air and screaming with joy. They hadn’t even won yet.

When Madam Hooch’s ss whistle rang out once more and everyone flew back up. The rain continued to fall heavily down on everyone. Draco’s usually greased back hair was now a drenched mop and he found it very unsettling. He imagined his mother being very disappointed by its messiness. After all neat hair was mother’s thing.

Draco spotted Harry doing some silly moves up in the air and flew over laughing.

“Training for the ballet, Potter?” He yelled as Harry did another stupid kind of twirl in midair to dodge the Bludger. Harry then looked him dead in the eye and gave the most devilish look of hatred he had ever gotten. Draco began to laugh because there was no way Harry hated him for saying he was training for a ballet.

Draco watched through his laughing fit the bludger speed towards Harry once more and the urge to scream lookout almost overtook him. Yet he knew the rest of the team would hear it, and explaining why he showed sympathy for Potter seemed more difficult than finding out who the heir of Slytherin was.

The Bludger had hit Harry and smashed into his elbow. Harry slid sideways on his rain-drenched broom, one knee still crooked over it, his right arm dangling useless at his side. Draco watched the Bludger come pelting back for a second attack, this time aiming at Harry’s face. 

Draco found himself unconsciously about to dive towards the bludger when Harry swerved out of the way and glared in his direction once more. A faint buzzing noise rang in his ear but he just assumed it was something to do with the rain. 

Draco confused, let out one chuckle before Harry flew directly in his direction. Draco quickly widened his eyes and put his hands in front of his face to protect himself from Harry’s attack.

But it never came.

“What the –” Draco gasped. Harry had flown past him and was now chasing one thing. The snitch was right by his ear and he didn’t even notice.

Draco watched as Harry grabbed the snitch and admire it. The Gryffindor’s cheered and the Slytherin’s groaned. Draco quickly looked up at the stands to see his father not even there. Snape however bit his lip and nodded before disappearing from the stands.

So there Draco sat. On his broom, a couple of hundred feet off the ground, in the pouring rain, alone.

He didn’t come down until a couple of minutes later when the pitch seemed to empty of all the students. Draco ducked into the tent and immediately came face to face with Miles and Marcus.

“And what was that then?” Miles sneered, taking Draco’s brooms out of his hands and throwing it to the side. Adrian and some of the other teammates laughed in the back and Marcus glared.

“Right by your bloody ear! You lost us this game Malfoy, you’ll pay for it as well. Laps tomorrow morning, and not flying RUNNING!” Marcus yelled smacked Draco across the face. Draco flew back landing on the muddy ground and watched as the rest of the team exited the tent.

He didn’t cry. He firmed it. He deserved it. 

Just like he had deserved to get thrown into the portrait room. It was his fault. 

Draco walked back to the common room alone and drenched. Theo, Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all waiting for him at the entrance. 

“We heard Marcus say some things..” Pansy began but her eyes grew wide as she looked at the red handprint on the side of Draco’s pale face. 

“Apparently Potter fainted right after and Lockheart removed his bones, at least you not stuck in the Hosptial Wing all night, it’s scary there,” Theo said quickly. Draco knew he was just trying to get the subject changed so Pansy wouldn’t ask about the mark.

“Makes me feel a little better, yea,” Draco said quietly, “I think I’m going to take a nap,” He ducked down the stairs leaving the rest of them to whisper more about him.

He didn’t care. He pulled his wand from inside his robes and mumbled a hot air spell to fix his hair and changed into more comfortable clothes. It was about one but he hoped he slept until the next day. He got into bed, shut his eyes, and drifted to sleep preparing himself to be woken up in the morning by an angry Marcus Flint forcing him to run in the rain. 

A couple of weeks had passed since the match and it was now the second week of December. Snape had visited the common room earlier to collect names for the people who would be staying at school for the holidays. Draco’s father who hadn’t said anything to him since the match had written a letter saying he was to stay at school over break due to a last-minute trip to Bulgaria. Crabbe and Goyle had opted on staying as well, while Pansy, Theo, and Blaise were going back home. 

It was a Thursday, and the hair was brisk and cold as the six of them made their way to Potions down in the cold dungeons.

Thursday afternoon’s lesson proceeded in the usual way. Many cauldrons stood steaming between the desks next to jars of ingredients. Snape paraded through the fumes, making waspish remarks at the Gryffindors’ work while the Slytherins sniggered approvingly.

Draco Malfoy kept flicking his eyes at Ron and Harry hoping that they would say something to Snape so they could get some sort of punishment. He had tried to forget about them and had even attempted to throw away the page under his pillow. Part of him wanted them to perish to the beast within the chamber but another part didn’t. It killed him inside that he couldn’t make a final decision.

Ruining Draco’s gaze and deep thoughts, Goyle’s potion suddenly exploded, showering the whole class. Students began shrieking as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them. Draco himself got a faceful and felt his nose began to swell like a balloon. He felt himself turn red with rage because he knew exactly would have done this, and in his mind, he slowly made his decision.

“Silence! SILENCE!” Snape roared. “Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draught – when I find out who did this –”

Draco hurried forward as he felt his nose grow even more and his head began to drop due to the weight of the nose that was now the size of a small melon. His face was still red and what made him even more annoyed was Harry’s ever so taunting laugh behind him.

Snape handed Draco the antidote which he took generously and sighed as his big nose slowly started to go down. Draco watched as Snape swept over to Goyle’s cauldron and scooped out the twisted black remains of the firework. 

There was a sudden silence.

“If I ever find out who threw this,” Snape whispered, “I shall make sure that person is expelled.”

Snape was looking right at Harry. Surely this time he would get some sort of punishment. But then the bell rang and they all hurriedly exited the classroom leaving Draco groaning in disbelief.

“How does that even happen!” Draco exclaimed walking out of the class.

“I don’t know mental really, can’t believe Snape didn’t let him have it,” Blaise shook his head.

“How’s your nose feeling? Bet you could smell loads,” Theo giggled resulting in a good hit to the back of the head by Draco. They all laughed and made their way back to the common room making new nicknames for the lucky boy who lived.

A week later, Theo came running into the dorms one morning screaming about some sort of club. Apparently, someone decided to start a dueling club and the first meeting would be tonight. Draco loved the idea, and he was hoping for one person to be there. Harry Potter. 

The meeting was at eight o’clock so when the time came they all exited the dungeons and made their way to the Great Hall. The long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.

“I wonder who’ll be teaching us?” Pansy whispered.

“Anyone but that git-” Blaise begun but his jaw dropped as Gilderoy Lockhart walked onto the stage, wearing robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than their own head of house Snape.

Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called, “Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!”

Draco, Blaise, and Theo all groaned while Pansy giggled at the sight of her favorite professor. Their only hope was Snape. 

“Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions – for full details, see my published works.

“Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape,” said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. “He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don’t want any of you, youngsters, to worry – you’ll still have you Potions master when I’m through with him, never fear!”

“Snape better send Lockheart on his arse, I’ll bet a sickle,” Blaise whispered into Draco’s ear. Draco smiled. “No chance I’d bet against that, try Pans.” 

Blaise laughed and walked up to Pansy and whispered the same bet into her ear which she surprisingly took. She shook his hand and Blaise walked back smirking. “Can’t wait to get a sickle,” He sung.

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.

“As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position,” Lockhart told the silent crowd. “On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course.”

The look on Snape’s face was saying otherwise which made all the Slytherins chuckle.

“One – two – three –”

Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: “Expelliarmus!” There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.

Draco and the other Slytherins cheered while Pansy looked down at the ground in shame as she shoved a sickle into Blaise’s hand.

Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end.

“Well, there you have it!” he said, tottering back onto the platform. “That was a Disarming Charm – as you see, I’ve lost my wand – ah, thank you, Miss Brown – yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don’t mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy – however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…”

Snape was smirking. Apparently, Lockhart had noticed, because he said, “Enough demonstrating! I’m going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you’d like to help me –”

Draco moved towards Goyle. Seeing as he could barely perform a spell, this would be easy.

“Time to split up the dream team, I think,” Snape sneered. “Weasley, you can partner Finnigan. Potter –”

Draco watched as Harry moved automatically toward Hermione.

“I don’t think so,” said Snape, smiling coldly. “Mr. Malfoy, come over here. Let’s see what you make of the famous Potter. Miss Winters, you can partner with Miss Parkinson. And you, Miss Granger – you can partner with Miss Bulstrode.”

Well then. Even better. 

Draco strutted over, smirking.

“Face your partners!” called Lockhart, bock on the platform. “And bow!”

Draco and Harry barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other.

“Wands at the ready!” shouted Lockhart. “When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents – only to disarm them – we don’t want any accidents – one…two…three –”

Harry swung his wand high, but Draco had already started early. His spell hit Harry so hard he stumbled backward. Draco smiled but quickly lost the smirk when Harry pointed his wand straight at him and shouted, Rictusempra!

A jet of silver light hit Draco right in the stomach and he doubled up, wheezing.

“I said disarm only!” Lockhart shouted in alarm over the heads of the battling crowd.

Draco sank to his knees. Harry had hit him with a Tickling Charm, and he could barely move for laughing. Draco was officially fuming now, he would not let Harry make a full of him again.

Gasping for breath, Draco pointed his wand at Harry’s knees and cried, Tarantallegra! The next second Harry’s legs began to jerk around out of control in a kind of quickstep.

“Stop! Stop!” screamed Lockhart, as Snape stepped up behind them.

“Finite Incantatem!” he shouted; Harry’s feet stopped dancing and Draco stopped laughing, and they were able to look up. 

Draco sat up and looked around to see Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still dueling. Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Draco felt immediately defensive and was about to run over and tell Millicent to stop but Harry had reached there first and pulled her off. 

Something inside of made him furious that she did that. He walked over to Millicent and whispered into her ear.

“Never do that again” He sneered. She gave Draco a weird look and rolled her eyes and walked over to Pansy who had taken on a Hufflepuff and won. 

“Dear, dear,” said Lockhart, skittering through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. “Up you go, Macmillan…. Careful there, Miss Fawcett…. Pinch it hard, it will stop bleeding in a second, Boot –

“I think I’d better teach you how to block unfriendly spells,” said Lockhart, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away. “Let’s have a volunteer pair – Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you –”

“A bad idea, Professor Lockhart,” said Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. “Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We’ll be sending what’s left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox.” Neville’s round, pink face went pinker. “How about Malfoy and Potter?” said Snape with a twisted smile.

“Excellent idea!” said Lockhart, gesturing Draco and Harry into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed away to give them room.

“There is this one spell, Serpesortia...Potter won’t know what hit him” Snape said in a low voice. Draco nodded he remembered seeing the spell in his father’s study as well. Seemed to be very popular amongst the Slytherins.

Draco watched as Harry looked up nervously at Lockhart and said, “Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?”

“Scared Potter?” Draco smirked.

“You wish,” said Harry out of the corner of his mouth.

Lockhart cuffed Harry merrily on the shoulder. “Just do what I did, Harry!”

“What, drop my wand?” Harry shot back. Draco almost let out a laugh but kept his position.

Three – two – one – go!” he shouted.

Draco raised his wand quickly and bellowed, “Serpensortia!”

The end of his wand exploded. A long black snake shot out of it fell heavily onto the floor between them, and raised itself, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor.

Draco watched in amazement.

“Don’t move, Potter,” said Snape lazily, “I’ll get rid of it….”

This was his plan. Make Potter look like he was incapable of dealing with a Snake so Draco would win automatically. Bloody smart man Snape was.

“Allow me!” shouted Lockhart. He pointed his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight toward a petrified Hufflepuff and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.

Draco watched in shock as Harry began speaking to the snake. It was Parseltongue. He quickly looked at Blaise and Theo who were staring at him as well. Was Harry the actual heir? No surely not. He’s not even in Slytherin. Draco himself had a better chance of being the heir.

“What do you think you’re playing at?” the Hufflepuff shouted, and before Harry could say anything, The boy had turned and stormed out of the hall.

Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. Snape, too, was looking at Harry in an unexpected way.

Draco and everyone else watched as Harry was pulled out of the Great Hall by Ron and Hermione. 

“Back to the common room,” Snape said and then quickly disappeared through the doors.

“So Potter’s a parlesmouth, well this changes things,” Blaise said.

“Yea definitely,” Draco said.

If Harry was the heir of Slytherin, then this did change everything. But what now?


	7. Christmas at Hogwarts

Christmas came so quickly it almost felt abnormal. The rumor about Harry being the Heir of Slytherin had spread quickly, causing all the Slytherins to revolve every conversation about it.

Draco had awoken one night, a couple of days before Christmas break, to a commotion in the common room that consisted of Marcus and Adrian fueding. 

"No way Potter is the heir! Friends with a mudblood and a blood traitor there's no way…" Marcus mumbled.

Draco noticed how Marcus always managed to make that word sound so much worse than it was. 

Draco saw that they were sitting on the couches opposite the fireplace with a bottle of firewhisky between them, mumbling, dropping a few swear words here and there.

"Marcus, it has to be just to be a weird coincidence.." Adrian said, taking a sip from the bottle and putting it back down roughly on the table.

"Yeah, sure, but if he was.." Marcus's tone changed, and he grew silent as Draco watched his eyes scan the common room.

"We should just go to bed...almost dawn, and I gotta help the bloody first years pack in the morning." He flicked his wand, and the bottle of firewhisky seemed to disappear. Draco felt as though Marcus was scanning the room for him and knew that he was eavesdropping. Draco turned around and headed back into his dorms with one swift motion and crawled into bed. He'll overthink their conversation in the morning.

He did overthink the next morning. And the next. And the next. 

Eventually, the day came where all the students with loving parents and warm cozy homes left, leaving Hogwarts to be quiet and deserted. Draco wasn't jealous at all and completely didn't mind. 

He was more worried about being lonely, more importantly, alone in his thoughts. Blaise, Theo, and Pansy had all packed and were ready the moment Snape called them to board the trains. Draco watched as they giggled over what game to play on the train and what Gryffindor's were planning on bullying; it all made his heartache.

Snape came down to the dungeons, half past 3, beckoning the students to go up to the entrance hall. Draco gave a half-hearted smile as he saw them all pick up their trunks. He waited for them to walk away when all three of them turned around and ran towards him.

"Sorry we couldn't bring you to my mum's Draco," Blaise said, hugging his blond-haired friend, "Since we won't see you, we wanted to give you this," 

Blaise placed a small silver-wrapped present in his hands. It was wrapped perfectly, with no loose wrapping or edges that stuck out; it was perfect.

"Don't open it till Christmas morning," Pansy said and then got closer and looking him straight in the eyes, "Promise?" 

Her glare was threatening, but Draco decided to mumble the words "promise," which resulted in a huge hug from the girl who he once had described as Pug Face.

The moment he pulled away, Theo was running into his arms.

"We'll write!" Theo said, holding the hug until Draco was released from the embrace first.

Theo's goofy grin was the last thing he saw before they grabbed their trunks and made their way out of the common room and up the stairs, ready to go home.

Draco made his way back into the dorms where Crabbe and Goyle were sat going through Theo and Blaise's nightstand drawers.

"Bloody hell, they haven't even been gone for ten minutes yet," Draco tried to sound annoyed, but he felt a laugh escape his mouth. How could he ever be mad at these two idiots?

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle had spent the few days before Christmas running around the castle and throwing snowballs in the first years that looked like they had nothing else better to do than sit there. That only happened a couple of times before the Weasley twins (Draco still couldn't tell who is who) decided to hurl at least a dozen snowballs at their faces. That concluded the snowball throwing.

Eventually, Christmas morning came, and the castle seemed to hold some bit of happiness since everyone's departure. Draco noticed Crabbe and Goyle weren't in their beds and assumed they had somehow awoken at the crack of dawn, opened their presents, and made it to the Great Hall just in time from Christmas breakfast. 

Draco rolled out of bed and placed his feet on the cold stone floor. He eyed the silver-wrapped package on his nightstand and grabbed it. He opened it carefully, and he felt his heart stop.

Inside a box was a painting, clearly done by Theo, of the six of them sitting by a tree, laughing. It was the day that Draco had his fight with Ronald because, in the painting, Draco's jumper was ripped. 

He felt a tear roll down his cheek. He didn't deserve these people at all. 

Draco smiled and put the picture back in the box and slid it into his dresser drawer. He didn't want Crabbe and Goyle to see it, most importantly, Adrian and Marcus.

He spent the rest of the day by himself reading from the books in the common room and wishing someone could hold some civilized conversation.

Eventually, the kids hiding in their rooms emerged to head to the Great Hall for the Christmas feast. Draco wasn't hungry, so he kept reading his book until he caught a glimpse of someone's Daily Prophet laid across the table.

Written in bold letters alongside a moving picture of Arthur Weasley and his father was:

INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car.

Mr. Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr. Weasley's resignation.

Draco almost couldn't hold in his laughter. No way the Weasley's had fifty Galleons! And possible resignation! Christmas was brilliant. 

He looked around the room to tell Blaise and Theo before it hit him that they weren't there. Draco sighed. The only people who would remotely find this funny were out in the Great Hall stuffing their faces.

Draco grabbed his robe, clutching the Prophet, and set out to find Thing 1 and Thing 2.

It felt like ages. Walking through the many halls and getting stuck on the moving staircases, they were nowhere to be found.

He finally gave up, thinking maybe the headline wasn't that funny and went back down into the dungeons to go finish up his book.

Draco rounded the corner and saw two big boys walking right into one of the Weasley's.

"There you are," Draco said, looking at them. "Crabbe, Goyle, have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? I've been looking for you; I want to show you something really funny."

Draco glanced at the Weasley, who was standing with his arms crossed, looking anything but scary. Which one was he again? Peter? Parker? Patrick?

He looked up at Goyle to see him wearing black-rimmed glasses? Why did they look so familiar?

"Why are you wearing glasses?" Draco asked, scrunching up his face. Has he never noticed the poor eyesight of Gregory?

"Uh-um reading," Goyle stuttered and took the glasses off and shoved them in his robe.

The moment Draco heard the stutter and mention of reading, he knew. Potter had used Polyjuice. Draco glared at Crabbe, who was being quieter and didn't have crumbs on his face. By Draco's guess, it was Weasley.

"Reading? I did' t know you could read?" Draco sneered. He wanted them to think he was oblivious. He smirked; why not have a little fun with Scarhead and Weaslebee.

"And what're you doing down here, Weasley?" Draco sneered once more turning his attention on Patrick, who continued to look outraged.

"You want to show a bit more respect to a school Prefect!" Parker said. "I don't like your attitude!"

Draco rolled his eyes and motioned for "Crabbe" and "Goyle" to follow him. They hurried after him, and as they turned into the next passage, Draco started mumbling, "That Peter Weasley –"

"Percy," Crabbe corrected him automatically.

Well, they were definitely not doing their best at convincing him...

"Whatever," Draco said. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed."

Draco let a laugh. Did they think he was this stupid? He felt their awkward glares on the back of his neck.

"What's the new password again?" Draco said to Harry.

"Er –" 

"Oh, yeah – pure-blood!" Draco shouted. That wasn't the password, it was Christmas, but he mumbled it quickly after. He assumed they thought that Slytherin's were so focused on blood status that they had no other interests, which in conclusion was not true.

A few of the other Slytherins were sitting in high-backed chairs. Draco only hoped they wouldn't bother him.

Draco looked at them one last time before handing them the Prophet.

"That'll give you a laugh," he said.

Crabbe read the clipping quickly, gave a very forced laugh, and Handed it to Goyle.

"Well?" Draco said impatiently as Harry handed the clipping back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?"

"Ha, ha," said Harry bleakly.

Draco loved this.

"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," Draco said, trying not to laugh at their puzzled expressions. "You'd never know the Weasleys were purebloods, the way they behave."

Draco watched as Ron's face scrunched up. Again, way to make it obvious.

"What's up with you, Crabbe?" He snapped.

"Stomachache," Ron grunted.

"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," Draco said, snickering. "You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet," he went on thoughtfully. "I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. Can't believe they let people like Creevy in!" 

Draco hated using the word mudbloods in front of one; it was easier in front of them. Yet he still didn't like saying it that much.

He started taking pictures with an imaginary camera and did what he thought was an accurate impression of Colin: "' Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?"

Draco looked up to see Ron and Harry, both looking incredibly fearful.

"What's the matter with you two?"

He can tell they forced themselves to laugh. Crabbe and Goyle would have been rolling at this point. 

"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," Draco said slowly. "He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that know-it-all Mudblood Granger."

Draco saw Ron's fist clenched. How cute. 

He carried on.

"And people think he's Slytherin's heir!"

"I wish I knew who it is," Draco said. "I could help them."

If they were here, they had thought he was the heir. Draco could confirm that by the shock on their faces. Maybe he would use this as a way to help them. Draco knew of the basilisk and the chamber, when it was last opened, and what happened when it had opened.

Possibly he could hint at it? Help them on their stupid quest to become victorious Gryffindor's once more. Draco knew this was betraying his father, but in some way, it felt right.

"You must have some idea who's behind it all…." Draco heard Harry mutter.

"You know I haven't, Goyle. How many times do I have to tell you?" Draco snapped.. "And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing – last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood dies. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed this time…. I hope it's Granger,"

Of course, he didn't wish death on Granger. He just assumed that would get them the angriest, which would cause them to forget everything he had said before.

Ron looked like he was about to jump out of Crabbe's body and deck him when Harry shot him a look and said, "D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?"

"Oh, yeah…whoever it was was expelled," Draco said. "They're probably still in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" said Harry. Draco noticed a slimline start to appear on Goyle's forehead. They were about to turn back any second.

"Azkaban – the wizard prison, Goyle," Draco said, looking at Harry in disbelief. "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward." He smiled. Blaise would have loved that one.

"Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week?" 

He was lying about who told him this. Laying on his bed was a letter from his mother about everything she knew about the chamber. She was worried, after all. Draco only said it was his father because he assumed it would scare Potter and Weasley more. 

Narcissa had written to him distraught over the fact that some of their stuff was taken, including one of Draco's favorite books because the ministry seemed to think it was tied into Dark Magic.

"Yeah,…" said Malfoy. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor –"

Draco didn't know why he added that last bit, but they didn't notice Ron was now standing up, pointing at Harry.

"Ho!" said Ron.

Draco looked at them. His hair was turning red, and his nose slowly lengthened. Ron was turning back into himself. 

They all jumped to their feet.

"Medicine for my stomach," Ron grunted, and without further ado, they sprinted the length of the Slytherin common room, hurled themselves at the stone wall, and dashed away from view.

Draco started laughing but then quickly stopped. This whole time they had thought the heir was him. Of course, he was honored, but why? Regardless of being grown up to prejudiced beliefs, to kill a muggle-born had always seemed extensive.

He walked down into the dorms and changed his clothes. Crabbe and Goyle's bed were still empty. Draco assumed Potter had bribed them with food; well, that's at least what he would have done.

Draco grabbed the box he had opened that morning and took the painting out to admire it once more. He missed them. They would have found Potter and Weasley's attempt at a break in hilarious. Draco sighed and put the picture back into the box and shoving it back into the depths of the drawer.

Finally, he reached under his pillow where the page he had since the school's first day remained. This had everything they needed to know about the creature, but how would he give it to them? He couldn't outright tell them; it would hurt him too much. He was going against his father, as well as whatever remained of the Dark Lord. Was this a good thing?

Draco's eyes slowly started to close as he slid the page back underneath the pillow. He laid down and stared at the stone ceiling while listing to the usual noises of the black lake. There was an uneasy feeling in the Slytherin Common Room that night. Draco knew that whatever was going to happen in the school was going to happen very soon.


	8. Petrification

As the winter season came to an end, Filch began removing the holiday decorations from the walls, and the remaining students at Hogwarts begun planning for classes to start up again. Draco felt the need to distance himself far away from the happiness that was radiating off of them. His mother had managed to send one gift, a book on Ancient Runes, which he hoped on taking next year.

Draco had taken the book, and the ripped page to the usual tree by the black lake he had always found so comforting.

The air was bitter and the Slytherin house scarf wrapped tightly around his neck seemed to partially stop the wind that continued to slash his neck. He found a comforting groove within the trunk of the tree and took out the book on Ancient Runes and the ripped page.

The first thing he did was admire the ripped page that he had kept hidden for so long. The edges were starting to giveaway and some of the writing smudged, but still legible. He almost had everything figured out except for one thing. How did this beast move around so easily?

After Ron and Harry attempted to sneakily break into the Slytherin Common room, Draco didn’t think they needed the page. Helping them wasn’t exactly worth it. He wouldn’t gain anything from it, and that didn’t seem like such a fair trade.

Draco shoved the page into his robe pocket and began reading the book on Ancient Runes while occasionally glancing up to see one of the tentacles from the Giant Squid stick out from the lake.

About a week later, when everyone was finally back, it all seemed to go right back to normal. Somewhat.

Draco didn’t tell Pansy, Blaise, or Theo about Potter and Weasley because it seemed they had all dealt with their own misfortunes at home.

Theo and Blaise seemed quieter. They stayed near each other more, which wasn’t anything new. What was different was that some nights Theo’s cries filled the dormitory, and no one but Blaise knew why.

Pansy on the other hand, just got into fights with her father. Something about her grades, which to her never was a problem. Draco had asked her if she wanted to study together but something with her seemed off.

“Why are you being so weird,” Draco said one afternoon as the two of them were sitting at the table reading for Flitwick’s class in the morning.

“Nothing,” Pansy mumbled, nose deep in her book.

“Well, I feel very left out. Something happened to Theo, and Blaise won’t share what that exactly was,” Draco rambled, peaking after every word to see if Pansy would pay any mind.

She didn’t.

“Fine, I’ll just go to bed.” Draco got up, shut his book, and made his way down the stairs into the dormitories.

When he walked in, Blaise and Theo were playing a game of Wizard Chess, and Crabbe and Goyle were already passed out on their beds. Draco took a seat on his bed, just looking at the two of them.

“You guy’s alright? Haven’t said a word about what happened over Christmas, And don’t tell me nothing happened because I’m smarter than that!” The way Draco said this came across a bit ruder than he intended. The looks on Theo and Blaise’s face confirmed that.

“Well, since you’re so smart, maybe figure it out on your own. Salazar forbid we aren’t the only one keeping secrets.” Blaise spat. Theo looked down at William Ratman, who was slept peacefully in his lap, and didn’t say a word.

“What are you talking about?” There was no chance they knew about the page. Was there?

“Look, you’re telling me you have no idea who the heir of Slytherin is or how students keep getting petrified!” Blaise was standing up now.

“So far, it’s only been like two people and the bloody Gryffindor ghost, and why would you assume I know!” Draco raised his voice. He never had a fight with Blaise anymore, but something about the way Blaise argued made him a bit nervous.

“You’ve been acting weird this whole year and you’re telling me you know absolutely NOTHING!” Blaise yelled in his face.

Draco looked him up and down and sighed. “Fine,”

He pulled out the page from underneath his pillow and showed them. Theo and Blaise studied it and looked up.

“What is this then?”

“It’s the monster, that’s meant to be in the chamber. I overheard my father talking about it this summer and then found that page in a book at Flourish and Blotts. I’ve been keeping it just in case….” Draco stopped. If they knew he was saving that page just in case Harry, Ron or Hermione needed help they’d think he was soft.

“Just in case...someone needed help,” Draco looked down and then quickly back at his friends.

“Help? Draco Malfoy thinking about someone other than himself..how much did we miss exactly?” Blaise snickered.

Draco smacked the back of his head but smiled.

“So what do we do now?” Theo said. His face was not pale anymore and actually had a smile on it.

“I don’t know, been trying to figure out how exactly this thing moves around.” Draco bit his lip.

“Well, what if it used the pipes? I know William gets stuck down there sometimes. I don’t exactly know-how, but I’m sure a snake could fit.” Theo shrugged.

“That’s not a bad shout,” Blaise said grabbing a quill on his nightstand and dipping it in ink. He wrote in big letters, PIPES.

The three of them spent the night talking and sharing their goals for the next school year. Blaise suggested Draco stop slicking his hair, and Theo agreed to stop bringing his rat to social events. They later passed out on Draco’s bed, smiles still on their faces.

A month had passed since the boy’s nightly discovery, and everything seemed better within their group. Even Pansy came out of whatever slump she was in and they eventually caught her up with their discoveries. She was mad at Draco for a while for withholding what he had learned but got over it in less than a day.

Everything within the school was quieter. There had been no recent attacks, and Lockheart had a nice idea to decorate for Valentine’s day. Pansy seemed to enjoy that, considering her love for that git had yet to diminish.

They were on the way back to the common room after Herbology, just talking about Quidditch, when they came across a commotion in the hallway by the dungeons.

“What’s going on here?” Draco said curiously as he watched Harry start shoving everything into his bag. Draco looked over to see Blaise, Pansy, Theo, Crabbe, and Goyle chuckling.

“What’s all this commotion?” said a familiar voice as Peter Weasley arrived.

Harry tried to make a run for it, but a Valentine dwarf seized him around the knees and brought him crashing to the floor.

“Right,” he said, sitting on Harry’s ankles. “Here is your singing valentine:

His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,

His hair is as dark as a blackboard.

I wish he was mine, he’s really divine,

The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.

Draco was clutching his stomach, crying in laughter as Parker tried to wave off the crowd of kids that were starting to form around Harry.

“Off you go, off you go, the bell rang five minutes ago, off to class, now,” he said, shooing the younger students away. “And you, Malfoy –”

Draco had stopped laughing to look up at Pete when he noticed something on the ground. He picked it up and saw it was the exact same diary his father had this summer and had shoved into Ginny Weasley’s cauldron.

He looked over at Crabbe and Goyle, who seemed to recognize the book as well. Possibly something their fathers had told them about as well.

“Give that back,” said Harry quietly.

“Wonder what Potter’s written in this?” Draco said nervously, trying to divert the eyes of many students on his back. A hush fell over the onlookers.

“Hand it over, Malfoy,” said Patrick sternly.

“When I’ve had a look,” Draco smiled, waving the diary tauntingly at Harry.

What Draco honestly didn’t want was for Harry to get this diary. He knew it was bad news and, for some reason, didn’t want Harry to have his hands on it.

Phillip began yelling, “As a school prefect –” but Harry seemed to have lost his temper. He pulled out his wand and shouted, “Expelliarmus!” and Draco found the diary shooting out of his hand into the air. Ron, grinning, caught it.

“Harry!” said Percy loudly. “No magic in the corridors. I’ll have to report this, you know!”

Draco felt anger overcome him. Why couldn’t Potter ever just NOT do anything! He spotted Ginny passing him to enter her classroom, and by the red color of her cheeks, he could tell she was the writer of that horrid Valentine. He yelled spitefully after her, “I don’t think Potter liked your valentine much!”

Blaise, Theo, and Pansy were still giggling when Draco pulled them aside. Crabbe and Goyle were completely silent, which wasn’t anything new, but Draco knew they knew something.

“That journal is the same my father had in Diagon Alley, it has something to do with the chamber I’m just not sure what!” Draco said in a low voice, giving dirty looks to whoever passed them.

“What could Harry want with it though? It’s just a journal..” Theo asked.

“I don’t know but it has to be connected,” Draco said biting his lip. The atmosphere felt off, the breeze felt a bit colder. Something bad was going to happen. And soon.

After classes, the six of them made their way back into the common room when Draco spotted a certain puffy haired girl make her way up the stairs into the library.

The hairs on his neck stood up. This was it. This was the moment he would play hero and help the bloody Golden Trio.

Draco quickly ran to the wall mumbling the password and pushing his way in. He sprinted to his pillow and grabbed the page.

“What are you doing exactly?” Blaise said laying his books on his bed as he watched his friend sprint back out of the room.

“I don’t know!” Draco yelled as the wall closed behind him.

He found himself outside the library doors catching his breath from just running up so many stairs. Before entering he closed his eyes and whispered underneath his breath.

Pray to Merlin she’s in there

Draco pushed the door and walked in.

The library was dimly lit, and the smell of old books and candle wax filled the air. It was quiet other than the occasional shuffle of books being moved to the correct place. Draco walked around until he found the Gryffindor in a corner reading, none other than Hogwarts: A History.

Before he could even get a word out she was staring at him with the most confused look on her face.

“Can I help you?” Her tone was incredibly snarky, he had completely forgotten she didn’t like him.

“Look, Granger, you can get over your hatred for me later, I thought you should have this,” Draco pulled the page from his robe pocket and shoved it in her hand.

She stared at it, her eyes quickly skimming the page.

“What...How...Wait...How did you get this?” Her eyes grew wide as she continued to scan the page.

“Doesn’t matter but you should have it. Figured the Golden Trio might need it.” Draco shrugged, not making eye contact with her.

“Golden Trio? Why give it to me and not Harry” She looked up, completely serious.

“You’re joking, right? Me directly help Saint Potter?” Draco scoffed glaring at her. She looked the least bit impressed and didn’t find that funny which made it more awkward.

“Well anyway, I’ll leave you to it,” Draco took a deep breath and walked away, mumbling quick prayers to Salazar she didn’t ask him anything else.

He felt fine walking back to the common room. The castle was quiet and a couple of students were still making their way back to their common rooms after a long day of classes. Draco rounded the corner to the dungeons and suddenly stopped at least 20 steps from the wall.

There was a pounding in his chest and his head immeadiety began to hurt. The was a slight ringing in his ear and he felt himself reaching to cover them. His body hit the floor and immediately curled up into a ball.

The voices began and the screaming portraits began to take over his thoughts and mind.

HOW DARE YOU!

DISGRACE TO THE MALFOY NAME!

HELPING THE MUDBLOOD!

He felt himself giving in to the screaming, almost allowing them to punish him once more like they had many times over the summer. The urge to let the tears flow and allow them to win felt like the only option, but before he was able to the voices stopped.

Draco slowly opened his eyes to see Snape standing over him. His usual disgraceful scowl was replaced with a look of concern and for some odd reason, it felt comforting.

“Mr.Malfoy, would you like to come into my office?”

Draco was speechless but nodded and followed the ominous potions master into the room.

Snape pulled out his wand and conjured two porcelain cups filled with tea along with two chairs. They both took a seat and began drinking the tea in silence.

Snape didn’t say a word until he had finished the cup and finally looked at Draco. “As your head of house, I am to make sure you are alright, would you like to tell me what caused you to lay on the ground like an infant,” Snape’s usual cold drawing voice sounded a bit more comforting when he wasn’t discussing potions that could kill you or put you in an endless sleep. Draco exhaled loudly and began to explain the summer torment and his recent interaction with Hermionie.

Snape listened without changing his expression once. The only time was when Draco mentioned he had been calling Hermionie a mudblood. Snape’s eyes seemed to drop as if those words brought a bad memory he did not want to be reminded of.

“I knew your father, and his approaches to discipline can be- harsh,”

“Harsh is an understatement..”

“Though they are harsh he means well I’m sure... Yet about these voices... Do you only hear them after interactions with Ms.Granger?” Snape questioned, eyeing Draco whose face had begun to turn red.

“Yes Professor, and I know it’s because I’m not meant to speak to mudbloods or even give them the time of day, but why is she not like them? I have been told since I was a child, mudbloods are the bane of existence. That they are foul, dirty, disgusting creatures that were created to destroy the purebloods and take what they worked so hard to achieve away. And in a way, she has taken it. She has everything I want. A friendship with the chosen one, great marks, the respect of almost every teacher in this bloody school! I want to call her a mudblood and mean it but every time I say those words, it doesn’t feel right. I want to hate her! I want to never look her way or feel threatened by her mind! I’m just trying so hard not to disappoint my father or my entire bloodline, but why can’t I just hate her!”

The room was silent for a while. All that was heard was the heavy breaths and the occasional footsteps of students headed towards the Slytherin Common Room. Draco wanted to leave so badly. Snape was the first person he told about the portraits, and it made him feel so incredibly vulnerable. He had planned on taking that to his bloody grave and now someone else knew. He bit back tears.

“Draco, I can’t tell you anything other than you will figure it out on your own. The wizarding world is a very complicated place where things could change just with a flick of a wand…” Snape looked down at his hands, “Sometimes we do things..say things...we don’t entirely mean, and it’s alright. You are twelve, you have room to grow and figure out how you feel about different things, and at times we all find ourselves threatened by the mind of someone else and it’s completely alright.”

They sat in silence until Snape stood up and flicked his wands for the cups and chairs to disappear.

“Off to bed you go, I suggest sleeping it over,”

Draco walked out of Snape’s office with his head down, repeating his Professor's words over, and over again.

...it’s completely alright…

Draco mumbled the password for the wall to open up and he made his way into the common room where Blaise and Theo sat waiting for him.

“So what did you go off and do then,” Blaise asked. He was seated close to Theo who was busy rocking William Ratman to sleep.

“I gave the page to the mudblood,” Draco said and then walked into the dormitory and shut the door.

The next day Draco awoke to the loud mumbling of Theo, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. Draco groaned and chucked at a pillow at them hoping they would shut up and offer a couple more minutes of peaceful slumber.

“Great you’re up.” Blaise walked over and scooped the pillow off the ground and smacked Draco in the back of the head. Draco flinched but got up quickly staring at the four boys who looked rather pissed off.

“The Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match got canceled,” Theo said in a tone that was way sadder than needed. Draco hadn’t planned on going, even though he gained excitement from the chance of Gryffindor losing but they were against Hufflepuff and that already screamed tragic game.

“And?” Draco rubbed his eyes and yawned. The more he looked at their faces the weirder he felt. “What’s happened?”

“Well we were going to go and leave you here to sleep, but when we got there McGonagall had stepped onto the pitch and announced the game was canceled for today...and at first we thought nothing of it until Crabbe spotted her taking Weasley and Potter to the infirmary…” Blaise said cautiously.

“Did one of them got hurt? I bet it was Weasley!” Draco chuckled and begun getting out of bed to change.

“Well..that would have been hilarious...except we walked by and stuck our heads in…” Blaise stopped talking.

“And then? I mean seriously what could have happened that needs this much build-up,” Draco scoffed as he admired his hair in the mirror.

“Granger’s been petrified,” Goyle said. Theo, Blaise, and Crabbe all looked at him with shocked expressions. “What, I can talk you know,” Goyle shrugged.

Draco had stopped and stood still, eyeing his face in the mirror. He expected his mind to be conflicted and arguing with itself about how it may be his fault. But his mind was blank.

“We just wanted to tell you since you know, talked to her last night,” Blaise spoke softly as if telling Draco this news would greatly impact his daily life.

“As if I care, the mudblood deserved it,” Draco snapped, “Now I’m going for a walk,”. Draco grabbed his robe, a scarf, and made his way out of the common room.

He walked up the stairs and into the courtyard and took a deep breath. The air was still cold but not as bad as it had been in previous days. Draco pulled the scarf a bit tighter and begun the walk down the path.

Part of him wanted to stop and think about what he had just heard a couple of moments ago but he didn’t care anymore.

“We all find ourselves threatened by the mind of someone else and it’s completely alright”

Snape’s words were pathetic. In no way was being afraid of someone completely alright. How could Snape even manage to get those words out of his mouth? To feel justified and accept that you are being beaten by someone who is clearly meant to be inferior to you is ridiculous. Not only that, but she turned around and allowed herself to be petrified so maybe she wasn’t that intelligent.

Draco didn’t think about if the note had reach Potter and Weasley or if they figured it all out because it didn’t matter. He had done it first. Draco Malfoy had once again figured the whole thing out and got nothing from it. He mumbled a few curses and continued down the path.

When he reached the end and decided it was time to turn around and face the concerned words from his friends, he caught a glimpse of long platinum blond hair in a clearing by the trees.

His curiosity overtook him like always and he moved towards the hair. Given what has happened in the past two days nothing could get weirder So he got closer. Eventually, he saw that it was a girl. She looked familiar and when she finally turned her head, he recognized her. She was the Ravenclaw girl from the sorting ceremony.

Draco got even closer and noticed she was just standing in the dirt with, no shoes on.

“Um, aren’t you cold?” Draco said judgingly. He knew they were wizards but it was still a bit odd, to stand in the middle of a forest with no shoes on.

“No, you get used to it after a while,”

Her voice was angelic. It was almost like she could say the worst bloody things to him and he would apologize.

“Oh, well what are you doing,” Draco asked, walking up to her and standing awkwardly to her left.

“Just watching the Thestreals play,” She said proudly with a toothy grin. Draco looked around and saw nothing. Was she mad? He gave her a weird look and raised his brow.

“There’s nothing there…”

“You are just one of the lucky ones then...” She said quietly and then looked at him. “Is something bothering you?” Her voice almost made him want to tell her everything, but she was still a strange girl that was standing in a forest with, reminder, no shoes on. Draco shook his head and tried to look for whatever she had been staring at before.

“Were you friends with the girl, who was petrified?”

“No,”

“I heard she’s lovely, all the first year’s know about her,”

“Nice,”

They stood awkwardly side by side until she began to walk away towards the path.

“Excuse me?” Draco said quickly.

She stopped and turned around, a small smile on her face.

“Yes?”

“What’s your name,” Draco asked. He didn’t know why but her quick presence made him feel like he was back with his mother.

“Luna. Luna Lovegood.”


	9. Free Elf

Chapter 9: Free Elf

The few final weeks of the year seemed to blow past as everyone was on the edge of their seats after the last attack. It never felt normal. Classes felt weird without a certain Gryffindor calling out the answer 20 times, and even her two bodyguards seemed exceptionally down.

Draco kept to himself more, not opening up to anyone about the conversation with Snape or why he was so angry. He had hung out with the Ravenclaw girl a few more times just in silence. She reminded him a lot of his mother, and somehow her presence made him feel like someone cared for him.

A few days after finding out Hermionie was petrified, Lucius had oweled him saying that he would be visiting Hogwarts to look into teacher behavior. Draco showed Blaise and Theo the letter, and they ended up making bets on who it would be. Blaise had a sickle on Professor Binns, which Draco felt was idiotic considering Binns was dead. Theo had a sickle on Professor Sprout, only cause he hated Herbology. Finally, Draco put a galleon on Dumbeldore. He didn’t know precisely why, just a feeling.

The bet gave something for everyone to look forward to. Draco, Blaise, and Theo went around classes boasting about how they hoped certain teachers would be leaving soon. Though, during Potions, they would always parade the idea that Dumbeldore should be removed as Headmaster and Snape should take his place. Potter would always turn red with anger, and Snape would hide his smirk.

When Draco’s father did come, it came as more of a shock. He had come after dinner and had immediately walked over to Hagrid’s hut. Draco, Blaise, and Theo had snuck out of the common room to try and watch what was going. Sadly they were caught by Snape and sent back to the dorms after losing 10 points each. 

The next morning as Draco left the common room to head to breakfast, his father was stood outside the wall waiting for him. 

“Draco.” 

Draco’s eyes widened, and he immediately made sure his tie was straight and his shirt was neatly tucked. He had thought his father would have left by now. It wasn’t like him to try and speak with him during the year.

“Yes, Father?”

Lucius motioned him to follow him as he began walking towards Snape’s office. He held the door open for Draco, which shocked him once more, but Draco walked inside without saying a word. When he turned around, Lucius had closed the door and locked it. 

They stood in silence, just looking at each other for a couple of moments before Lucius cleared his throat.

“Hagrid has been sent to Azkaban, and Dumbeldore has been suspended for the time being. I just thought you should know from me before the other students start spreading false rumors.”

Draco’s jaw dropped. Hagrid and Dumbledore gone? He couldn’t wait to tell Blaise and Theo (and get two Galleons from them). 

“Also, your mother wanted me to give you this,” Lucius reached into his pocket and pulled out the box that Narcissa had given him during Christmas last year. Draco had left the ring at home in fear of losing it or Blaise trying to steal it, so he was confused about why his mother would want him to have it. Lucius handed Draco the box and watched as he put the ring on.

“She wishes you to always keep a part of the Malfoy family with you,” Lucius looked like he felt extremely uncomfortable at the cheesy family talk and sighed. “We are planning for another trip to Bulgaria this summer, and you are to come. We will leave the week after you come back,”

Draco looked up at his father and nodded. He didn’t mind where they went, as long as there was no chance of being thrown into a room with angry paintings.

“Well, off you go. I assume you have something to tell Mr.Zambini and Mr.Nott. See you soon,” Lucius said, and Draco swore he almost saw a smile come from his father as he turned around, unlocked the door, and left.

Draco stood there, twisting the ring on his finger until Snape entered the room. 

“And what are you doing in here, Mr.Malfoy?”

“Sorry, Sir, I’m leaving,” Draco smirked as he ran out of the room and straight up the stairs into the great hall. He spotted Theo and Blaise talking to Pansy and walked over with the biggest smile on his face.

“And what have you gone and done now?” Pansy said, putting some eggs onto her plate.

“Just had a conversation with my father, and he’s told me Dumbeldore and Hagrid are no longer at Hogwarts,” Draco said with his chest.

He watched Blaise and Theo’s jaws drop. 

“Bollocks! You have a conversation with your father?” Blaise rolled his eyes, “Gotta learn to start telling better lies,”

“So you don’t believe me talking to my father, but believe that Dumbeldore is gone?!” Draco said concerningly. 

“We heard that this morning from Marcus, you’re late to the party. Just can’t believe you had a normal conversation with your dad that didn’t result in you throwing a fit for a week.” Theo said as he stuffed some pastry’s into his robe for William Ratman.

“Unbelievable,” Draco mumbled.

“It’s true. I heard it from Pomprey when I was in the infirmary this morning. Most of the school knows,” Pansy said, shoving the egg into her mouth and grabbing a daily prophet from the table.

“Wait, the infirmary? Why were you in there?” Draco questioned. Pansy’s face immediately turned red, and she began stammering. 

“I-uh-no-um-I got to go to class,” 

Pansy got up and hurried out of the Great Hall, passing Crabbe and Goyle, who had just woken up. Theo, Blaise, and Draco all looked at each other, waiting for anyone to question Pansy’s actions, but they just shrugged and continued to eat.

Their day went by slow, as the talk of finals was the main focus. Thinking about finals when there were people currently petrified seemed a bit offputting, but never the less everyone began to study. Draco made plans with Blaise to meet up in the library later in the afternoon to grab a couple of books later in the evening.

Draco had gone back to the common room to grab his Transfiguration notes and was on his way up to the library when he saw Madam Pomprey leaving the infirmary to go to dinner. He couldn’t help it. He felt his legs walking towards the doors and eventually sneaking inside. Draco held his breath as he walked up to the bed of Hermionie Granger.

She was as still as a statue and looked as she had been holding something. He felt sick and tried to look at something else, but all around the room were more petrified people. Draco had heard McGonagall talking about how the mandrakes they were using as the antidote were almost ready, so this wasn’t permanent. 

He was about to leave when he noticed something close in her fists. With one glance, he knew exactly what it was. The one thing he had spent so much time looking at this year, he knew the grooves and the rips on the corner. It was the page. She had never given it to Harry.

Draco felt himself cursing under his breath. The temptation to take it back and act as though nothing ever happened was so strong he almost did it. Instead, he let a little bit sticking out from her fingers, enough so that anyone could see it. He took one last look around the room and noticed the flowers at her bedside were dead. Without hesitation, he grabbed the flowers by the Creevy boy’s night table and exchanged them with hers. He didn’t know why, and he never wanted to know why. With one last glance, he left.

Draco was about to start the journey to the library when he turned around to see Harry and Ron entering the infirmary. He didn’t like the feeling, but he had butterflies in his stomach, and his heart was beating out of his chest. Draco sighed, hoping to ease the feeling, and walked up the steps. “Good luck, Potter,” He found himself mumbling as he rounded the corner to meet up with Blaise.

The next morning Draco awoke to Blaise screaming in his face.

“THEY BLOODY DID IT! POTTER AND WEASEL DID IT!” 

Draco rubbed his eyes and looked at Blaise in hopes he would quiet down. “What are you talking about?”

“They went and found the chamber. Apparently, the Weasley girl was taken down there last night when we were up in the library! I can’t believe they bloody did it! WITH OUR HELP!” Blaise was doing little dances all around the dorm and smiling wider than Draco has ever seen.

“You know you can’t tell anyone we helped. No one would believe three Slytherin’s cracked this before the boy who lived,” Draco mumbled.

“Oh, I know! Just the thought of it matters. It feels sort of good knowing you were almost the hero,” Blaise laughed and begun dancing with Theo, who was also half asleep.

Draco laughed and realized the feeling he had felt last night was gone and was now replaced with a wave of delight. He jumped and joined Blaise and Theo in their little dance as they celebrated the victory of the boy who lived.

The day went by quickly as the school was in exceptionally high spirits. Talks of a feast to celebrate spread around the school fast and classes for the day were canceled. When the time came, the Slytherins entered the Great Hall in their pajamas. Some of them weren’t celebrating as the dark lord has failed once again, but Draco didn’t care. The Dark Lord wasn’t his problem, nor did he care what he did or where he is now. What mattered now was that he had successfully gone another year in this school, and he couldn’t ask for anything else.

Draco was talking with Pansy and Blaise when they heard someone running through the doors. They all turned to see the big bushy brown hair of Hermione run into Harry’s arms, yelling, “You solved it! You solved it!”. Draco turned to see Pansy’s face red and Blaise laughing. He felt himself smiling, and when he looked back at Hermione, they made eye contact. She smiled and held a finger to her mouth before being surrounded by the other Gryffidor’s, wondering how it felt to be petrified.

Draco knew she wouldn’t tell him and he felt ok knowing that. It felt good knowing someone viewed him as the hero, and for that reason, he turned around and begun talking with the other Slytherins about plans for next year.

Around half-past three, Hagrid and Dumbeldore made their way into the Great Hall, which raised groans from the Slytherin’s, but groans later turned into cheers when McGonagall announced that exams were canceled. Of course, Gryffindor had won the House Cup, but Draco could care less. It didn’t matter to him anymore; he was in the same year as Harry Potter. If he won anything, it would be an absolute gift from merlin.

The rest of the term was only a few weeks away, and Draco had already begun packing. The trip to Bulgaria sounded more pleasant the more he talked about it. With everything going on, he had forgotten entirely about his Birthday.

When the day came, he woke up to Crabbe, holding up a cake for him. “Happy Birthday Draco! I got the elves in the kitchen to make you this!” Crabbe was so proud of himself, but Draco thought he was just more excited to eat it. Blaise, Theo, and Goyle entered the dorms with little gifts they had gotten him and sat on his bed as they all ate the cake.

Around noon when they were headed up to the Great Hall for lunch, they were lost in the discussion about next year’s classes when Lucius Malfoy appeared out of nowhere. Draco stopped as he could tell from the look of his father’s eyes, something hadn’t gone well. Theo and Blaise could tell and hurried into the Great Hall, leaving Draco alone by the doors.

“We are leaving,” Lucius said, grabbing Draco’s collar and shoving him towards the stairs leading back into the dungeons. 

“What?!” Draco said out of pure confusion. They weren’t meant to leave for a couple more days. 

“I have been sacked as a school governor, and that stupid Potter boy got rid of our stupid elf!” Lucius growled. Draco stood in shock, breathing in heavily.

“Well, what are you waiting for? GRAB YOUR THINGS!” Lucius yelled, which caused Draco to sprint into the common room immediately. He felt tears coming from his eyes as he shoved the remainder of his things into the trunk. 

That stupid Potter boy got rid of our stupid elf...

What had happened to Dobby? Was he dead? Was it his fault? The thoughts were back swarming his brain as he grabbed the trunk and made his way back to his father, who was still stood furiously at the end of the stairs.

Draco wanted to say something. He tried to say no, that he was going to finish the year, but when his father pointed towards the doors, he obediently followed. Blaise, Theo, Pansy, Goyle, and Crabbe were all stood outside the Great Hall watching him.

They didn’t say anything either, but as he walked out the school’s doors, he saw all of them wave. He felt tears roll down his cheeks as he followed his father outside the borders of the school. There was no car, so he wondered how exactly they were getting back to the manor.

“Stop crying. You’re a Malfoy for merlin’s sake.” Lucius mumbled as he grabbed Draco’s arm and apparated. 

Draco had never apparated before, and when they eventually reached outside the manor, he felt sick. His father walked forward and opened the gate. “Hurry up, get inside,” 

He grounded as he got up, still holding his trunk, and walked through the gate onto the grounds of the manor. They walked in silence up to the doors until Draco spoke.

“It was you. You were the one who caused the chamber to open again. You almost killed the Weasley girl,”

He didn’t know how the words had exited his mouth, and the moment they did, he wished he could take them back. His father had whipped around and grabbed the collar of his shirt once more.

“You know nothing of what I am doing. You should be proud you’re father helped in aiding the Dark Lord. It is not my fault that the Potter boy managed to get away with it. I was but a pawn in this game, Draco.” Lucius spat. 

Draco looked at his father, who was turning red with anger. “What happened to Dobby.”

“He was freed with a bloody sock by the one and only. Right in front of my face as well. As for how the boy even knows that elf is beyond me, then again, we will find a replacement for that stupid rodent.” Lucius growled as he let go of Draco’s shirt and walked into the manor. 

Draco sighed. Knowing Dobby didn’t die eased his anxiety, but the feeling of never seeing the elf again hurt him. His only friend in the manor was now gone. How was he going to survive the summers without having someone to talk to? Draco sighed and entered the manor.

He was immediately being welcomed by hugs from his mother. Draco tried to keep it together but begun to break into her arms. He thought she would let go or send him to his room, but she just held him and allowed him to break. All the built-up rage and sadness escaped from his eyes in tears. He didn’t care if he was a Malfoy or if the Dark Lord would show up any second and kill him for crying. At this moment, embraced by his mother, he was Draco Malfoy, and that’s all that mattered.


End file.
